The Destiny Scroll
by MrManGuy16
Summary: Riss is a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who gets caught up in the middle of a war between good and evil. He teams up with his old friends in order to restore balance to the worlds that were affected. Also, Amarisa, a princess around Riss's age, ends up getting captured, and Riss has to rescue her as well. Rated T for violence that occurs throughout the story.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Mount Mojang was a place where a certain race called the Developers lived. These Developers looked out for the three main worlds – the Aether, the Overworld, and the Nether. Many other worlds sprouted from these three worlds, but the Developers have little control over them. The head Developer is Notch, and he ensures that there is balance and harmony between the worlds. He didn't mind intra-world wars, but he didn't like inter-world wars, and he did whatever he could in his power to stop them so there can still be peace between the worlds.

However, this peace was about to be compromised. A race called the Endermen was attacking Mount Mojang, and he was caught in a duel with their leader. Their leader was a dark figure that was tall yet thin. While they were dueling, a massive battle was occurring outside. Developers were firing as much code as they could at the Endermen, but the Endermen just kept on coming. The main mission was to freeze Notch and prevent him from foiling the plans of the dark figure's master.

"You're making a big mistake by fighting the top Developer!" shouted Notch while he was busy dueling the dark figure. Notch was busy striking at the figure with his sword, but all his sword met was the sword of his opponent.

"Quite the opposite," replied the dark figure, "By resisting me, you are making a mistake, and my master will not approve of this." The dark figure kept on blocking the strikes, and eventually, their swords locked. The dark figure looked brought up all of his strength on Notch, and Notch stumbled backwards, with his sword falling out his hands. The dark figure then seized the opportunity by dashing towards Notch and pinning him against the wall.

"Finally, the time has come," said the dark figure, "Master, I am ready for you to freeze this crazed man. He has done enough, and he will no longer foil our plans." After he said that, a chamber of code began to form around Notch. While the chamber was forming, Notch began whispering.

"Wandering soul 239," Notch whispered, "I have an important mission for you. Find the hero that is destined to destroy evil. Put him to sleep in a safe temple until he comes of age 16. This will be to protect him from the evils that may want to capture him. When he turns 16, he will be at his prime and will be ready to vanquish evil."

The command was sent out just in time. Notch was now frozen in a chamber of code, unable to do anything. The dark figure turned around and saw that two of his Endermen were there, ready to give their report.

"The Developers are retreating, and I see that you have accomplished your task," one of the Endermen said, "Do you have any further commands for us?"

"Go back outside and prepare a portal for us to return to the End", the dark figure commanded, "Now that our task is accomplished, I want to leave this wretched place."

"Yes sir," the other Enderman said. They returned outside and started constructing the portal frame, which would be used to return to the dark figure's castle in the End, the world where the dark figure and the rest of the Endermen lived.

"We know you've got a hero out there, Notch," said the dark figure before leaving the throne room made of diamond blocks, "We will hunt down that hero and make sure he never foils my masters plan," said the dark figure, unaware of the fact that Notch dispatched a soul to hide the hero, "And you can be sure of that, because I am the ruler of the End – A.K.A, the Enderking."


	2. Chapter 1: Harlock Town

**Chapter 1: Harlock Town**

Ten years before the events of this story would occur, there was a small town between the mountains. It was called Harlock, and its residents lived peacefully and happily in it. Many of the men worked for the town by mining and chopping down trees, gradually helping it reach its goal of becoming a kingdom, while the women worked on the town's public farm to help keep the town healthy and fed.

Riss is one of Harlock Town's children. Riss had semi-long dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing the same clothes most people that lived in Harlock wore – a simple leather shirt, a pair of leather pants, and leather shoes. At this time, he was only six years old, and today, Riss's father was planning to take him down to the mine to show him what it's like to work for Harlock. Also, if Riss behaved, Riss's father may let him mine his first stone block! Riss could not wait to go mining.

When morning came, Riss jolted up from his bed and began dashing towards his father's room. "It's the day! It's the day!" he chanted while dashing to his father's room. Once Riss managed to get into the room, he leaped up onto the bed where Riss's father and mother was sleeping.

"Wake up, daddy!" Riss exclaimed, "Today is the day!" Riss's father rose up from his bed like a bear that had just woke up from its hibernation.

"Wake up, daddy," said Riss's mother calmly, probably hoping that it will help get her husband up faster. A few moments later, Riss's father was finally sitting up in his bed, looking at his son.

"Yep," Riss's father replied with some tiredness in his voice, "Today is the day." Riss's father looked very much like an adult version of Riss. He had the same dark brown hair, brown eyes, and similar leather clothing. Also, the name of Riss's father was Telpur.

Telpur turned his body to the side and stood up out of bed. He then walked over to the chest that had some of the equipment and food the family used. Riss couldn't keep himself still due to the excitement that was swirling around him. Telpur grabbed some bread and his own special iron pickaxe from the chest. Also, Telpur managed to sneak in a wooden pickaxe for Riss and his own stone block, being careful to make sure Riss didn't notice.

"Well, are you ready to go?" asked Telpur, who put the items in his backpack. Riss could barely get out words from his excitement now, so he just simply nodded. Telpur then opened the door, and the father and son went out the door, ready to head down to the mine.

Telpur and Riss turned left when they exited their home and started walking down the stone streets of Harlock. The passed by quite a few homes that were built in the same style that Telpur's home was built in – wooden planks for walls, stone slabs for the roof, and regular wood for the corners. A few moments later, Telpur and Riss arrived at town square. At town square, there was a well with a certain figure carved deeply into it – nobody knows what its purpose is. Also, Iramod, the town mayor, was there with his daughter, Amarisa, busy making their morning wishes.

"Hey there, Iramod!" shouted Telpur when he noticed Iramod. He started walking over to Iramod, about to begin a somewhat long conversation with him. Shortly after Telpur started talking to Iramod, Amarisa noticed Riss and began walking over to him. Amarisa and Riss had been good friends since they were born.

Amarisa had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a white dress that went down just to her knees so she could conceal as much skin above her knees as possible while still being able to run around for play. Also, she was six years old at the time, just like Riss. Despite how much Amarisa looked like a young lady, she was a tomboy at heart.

"Hey there, Riss!" shouted Amarisa when she came over to Riss, "I heard that today, you are going to the mine."

"Yep!" replied Riss, "And if I'm good, dad might let me mine my first stone block!"

"Wow, that is exciting," said Amarisa, "I'm sort of jealous of you now. Do you know that?"

"Well, I do now!" answered Riss. Both of them laughed for a few moments when Amarisa finally began speaking again.

"Well, don't let any gravel fall on you!" Amarisa said playfully.

"I'm not sure that there's any gravel in the upper mine, but I'll be careful!" replied Riss, chuckling while he said it. They laughed a bit more when Amarisa decided to get the conversation on track once again a few moments later.

"Hey," Amarisa began to say, "Kaldar and Treka are going to be at the playground today. Do you want to come with me to the playground and play on it after you're done at the mine?"

"Totally," replied Riss, "I'll see you there!"

"I'll see you there too!" exclaimed Amarisa before returning to her father, who was still deep in conversation with Riss's father. Riss knew that it would still be a while, so he begun looking around, trying to take in the scenery around him.

"Hey!" shouted a girl from behind Riss. It wasn't Amarisa, but he estimated that she was four years old. Plus, she was wearing the same usual leather clothes that kids like Riss wore.

"Yea?" replied Riss, looking at the girl that popped up randomly behind him.

"Let's play!" the girl said, "I think we should play tag!"

"Uh, okay," replied Riss.

"Not it!" exclaimed the girl before Riss had an opportunity to speak again. After she spoke, she started dashing through the streets. Before chasing her, Riss looked back at his father. He was still in a very deep conversation with Iramod, so Riss assumed he could spare a few moments to play with this mysterious girl. Once he confirmed with himself that it was okay, he begun chasing after the girl.


	3. Chapter 2: Chase to the Temple

**Chapter 2: Chase to the Temple**

Riss thought he was pretty fast, but this girl was obviously his match. He ran just about as fast as he did, and since she got a small head start, the distance between them never really changed. They passed by Riss's house, and they kept on running. Eventually, they got to the edge of town, and Riss decided to stop to catch a breath.

_The forests are ahead, and my dad said never to go in there... _Riss thought while standing and resting, _But he said never to go in there at night, and it's daytime!_

"Come on, let's play tag!" shouted the girl when she turned around a noticed that Riss was catching a breath, "Come on! Let's play!" Once Riss caught his breath, he start chasing after the girl again. The girl skillfully dodged the trees, and Riss did the same in order to keep up with the girl. After about two minutes of chasing, they arrived at one of the two mountains that bordered Harlock. The girl took a right turn once she arrived at the mountain, and Riss did the same. A few moments later, the girl took a left into a passage through the mountain, and Riss followed her.

Riss navigated through the passage, trying to keep up with the girl. Eventually, the two got out of the passage and arrived on the other side of the mountain.

"Don't get tired now!" the girl exclaimed, "Let's keep on playing tag!" The girl kept on running through the woods that appeared on the other side of the mountain, and Riss followed. The girl took a left turn, and Riss did the same. However, when he did the left turn, the girl was nowhere to be seen! Riss decided to keep on going straight forward, hoping to catch up to the girl.

A few moments of chasing later, Riss arrived at a clearing in the forest, and sitting in the middle of the forest was a temple. The temple was made of stone and had stone columns. Plus, Riss saw the girl's footsteps in the leaves lead to the temple, so he assumed that the girl was in the temple. Plus, Riss saw that the one of the double doors was open, so he walked over to the temple, crunching through the leaves, hoping to find the girl.

Once he entered the temple, Riss's footsteps began echoing against the walls of the temple, which was rather dark. Aside from the opened door, the only light that was provided to the temple was from a hole in the ceiling that provided light to a single bed on top of a stone platform in the center of the temple. Riss begun walking over to the bed, and stepped up the stairs that led to the platform.

_As much as I don't want to do it, I think I shouldn't chase the girl anymore, _Riss thought, _My dad is probably worried about me. But first, I should take a small nap before going back._ Riss then took off his leather shoes and leaped onto the bed, which was very comfortable. When Riss pulled up the blanket, it was very soft, just the way he liked it. Riss then rolled over on the bed, and in a few short moments, he was fast asleep.

While Riss was taking the nap, he had a dream. In this dream, he was standing on an invisible floor in the clouds. He begun to walk around, and after wandering a little bit, he figured that there was no way that he could fall down. However, he did hear a woman's voice higher above, and the voice begun talking to Riss.

"Greetings, chosen hero," the woman's voice said. It sounded calm and soothing, and Riss assumed it was a sacred voice.

"Where am I?" Riss asked to the voice above.

"You are currently dreaming," the voice explained, "And while you're dreaming, I should explain who I am. I am one of Notch's wandering souls, and I have been assigned to protect you until you turn sixteen years old."

"Wait, what?" Riss asked, being confused at what the soul was saying.

"You will be in this state of sleep until you turn sixteen," the soul answered, "Only then will you wake up and be able to return to the real world."

"So, I'm gonna be sitting here in the clouds for the next ten years?" Riss wondered.

"Well... technically, you will be dreaming for that long," the soul replied, "But time will fly by extremely fast in this dream world. In a few short moments, you will wake up ten years into the future, and you will have the body and mind of a sixteen year old."

"Yea, but what should I do when I wake up?" Riss asked after the soul spoke.

"There will be an elder woman of sacred status waiting for you when you wake up," the soul explained, "She will bring you up to speed on what happened over the last ten years."

"Okay," Riss said, "But this is just a dream. For all I know, I'm going to wake up in the same time era, ready to go with my dad to the mine."

"Well, you may believe that at this time," replied the soul, "But prepare to have your beliefs changed, because you will wake up in a different time... now."


	4. Chapter 3: The Ten Year Awakening

**Chapter 3: The Ten-Year Awakening**

When Riss woke up, he could feel the entire bed below his body – from one end of the bed to the other. Riss then slid out of the blanket, sat up, turned his body to the side of the bed, and put his feet on the ground. However, this time, his feet made a louder and deeper echo throughout the temple. When Riss looked at his feet, he noticed that they were much bigger than the last time he saw them. Plus, he couldn't see his leather pants at his ankles! His eyes scrolled up his legs until he came to a conclusion. His clothes have ripped off over the ten years, and he was naked.

Riss quickly grabbed the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around his lower body. When he grabbed the blanket, he noticed his ripped clothes. They had ripped apart where they were sewn together. The only piece of clothing that was still intact was his shoes, but that was because he had taken them off before going to sleep.

Next, Riss looked at his hands. They were much thicker and longer than they previously were! He scanned the rest of his body, and he finally came to a conclusion. The message in the dream was real, and Riss had woken up ten years into the future.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," said a voice from behind Riss. He turned around and noticed that it was an elder woman, much like the one that was mentioned in his dream, "I assume you had a nice, long nap?"

"I- I- I- I don't know what's going here!" Riss said loudly and nervously. He noticed another feature that set him apart from his younger version. His voice was much deeper. "Wh- why do I look and sound like a teenager?"

"Ah, did you pay attention to the dream that was sent to you?" the elder woman replied.

"H- how did you know I had a dream?" Riss asked, still sounding nervous.

"I'm a bit... special," the elder woman answered, "Let's just say that I'm a bit special for now." Then, the Elder woman reached behind her and grabbed a plain plate with a small, filled tea cup on it. "Here, have a cup of calming tea. It's imported straight from Mount Mojang, and it's very delicious."

Riss grabbed the tea and quickly slurped it down. The calming effects took place instantly, and Riss carefully and calmly put the tea back on the plate.

"Thanks for the tea," Riss said, showing obvious signs of calmness in his voice, "Now, could you please bring me up to speed on what has happened? Also, could you tell me why I don't look like a freak of nature, considering that I've been asleep for ten years?"

"To answer your second question, I kept your mind and body in shape while you were asleep," the woman replied, "But to answer your first question, I have to go through a story. Sit town, this may take a small while." Riss sat down on the bed, ready to listen.

"It all began five years into your sleep," the woman started, "Harlock was growing into a good-sized city, and it was on the right track of becoming a kingdom. The people of the growing city were healthy and spontaneous, and it seemed as if Harlock was in a golden age that was gradually evolving. But then, things took a turn for the worse for Harlock."

"What happened to Harlock?" Riss asked.

"The Enderking attacked Harlock and kidnapped Amarisa, the mayor's daughter, and held her for ransom," the woman explained. Riss begun to shiver at the thought of Amarisa being held captive.

"How much did the Enderking ask for?" Riss asked.

"I don't know how much it exactly was..." the woman stated, "But I think it went something along the lines of 28 double-chests of diamonds and 80 double-chests of emeralds."

"Oh my goodness..." Riss said, shocked, "Not even all of the greatest kings of history combined can provide that much..."

"That seems correct," the woman said, "And it seems as if the only way we can retrieve Amarisa is to steal her back."

"Okay, but what happened the other five years while I was asleep?" Riss asked.

"Harlock grew even bigger until it became the capital of a full-sized kingdom," the woman explained, "But the fact that Amarisa was still missing and that the Enderking was still out there haunted the city."

"Okay," Riss said, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"That's all," the woman said, "Here's some new clothes. Put them on." The woman pulled out a new set of clothes from behind her. "Don't worry, I won't look. I know how teens need their privacy."

When Riss was done changing clothes, he looked at his new outfit. It looked like a much bigger version of the outfit he wore when he was a boy, but it was a bit more loose for his age, allowing for more movement when wearing the outfit.

"Okay, I'm done changing," Riss said. The lady turned around and looked at Riss in his new outfit.

"So," the woman started, "How do you feel?"

"It feels really comfortable, and I feel more agile in it," Riss replied.

"Okay," the woman said. Riss begun wandering around at a somewhat fast pace, and the woman could tell that something was on Riss's mind. "Do you have something to tell me?"

"Uh," Riss replied nervously, "Agh, this is all so much to take in. Can I go outside for a few seconds?"

"You may," the woman answered. Riss walked back outside to the woods at a somewhat fast pace, leaving behind echos as his feet steeped on the temple floor.


	5. Chapter 4: Doubting Fate

**Chapter 4: Doubting Fate**

Riss walked out of the temple and into the forest, where the season made the leaves have colors of orange, yellow, and brown. Also, Riss's feet crunched through the leaves as he begun to sort out what just happened.

_In a temple- a woman- why am I sixteen- ugh... _Riss tried thinking it out, but his confused mind couldn't process the thoughts. So, without realizing it, Riss began pacing and talking to himself, trying to sort out the events. It was obvious that the effects of the calming tea was beginning to wear off.

"Okay, so there is an old woman in the temple, who told me that I had slept in for sixteen years?" Riss asked himself, "And that Amarisa was captured by this one Enderking freak?" Riss began pacing even more, trying to process what he just said. "Also, ten years have passed, and Harlock has evolved into a kingdom capital? This is all very confusing... Agh..."

Back in the temple, the elder woman heard Riss's fretting. _Better check on him, _the woman thought to herself. She began walking slowly to the door with her feet making small echoes across the temple walls. However, the woman was suddenly stopped, for she started hearing the voice of a man in her head.

"I may have found the wrong guy," said the man in the woman's mind, "Go outside and give him two choices. Either have history rewritten to where he didn't go to sleep, or have him accept reality and pursue his quest. Any other man would choose the first option. However, if this person is the real hero, he will choose the second option." After the man said that, the woman immediately begun obeying his request by going outside, ready to talk to Riss.

When the woman arrived outside, Riss was still wandering around, trying to process the new assault of information. The woman began crunching through the leaves, but Riss was oblivious to her approach. Riss didn't notice her until she was about a few feet away from him, and Riss started speaking instantly.

"I- I'm still confused," Riss said anxiously, "Can you whip up some more of that calming tea?"

"I may be able to," the woman replied, "But you have to make a decision first."

"Wha- what kind of decision?"

"You have a choice, and there are two choices. The first choice is that history will be rewritten to where you never fell asleep in the temple, and you would have grown up to be a normal boy."

"How about the second choice?"

"The second choice is that you accept the fact that you are the only one who could stop the Enderking, and that this may be one of your only opportunities to save Amarisa."

"Will the Enderking still capture Amarisa if I choose choice one?"

"I am very certain of it. Plus, if I'm right about who I think you are, he may capture you as well."

Riss turned around and begun thinking for a few moments, showing signs that the woman's calmness has passed on to him. For a few short moments, the only sound that could be heard was the leaves rustling in the wind. Finally, Riss turned around, ready to tell the woman his decision.

"I have decided that I will accept what has happened," Riss stated, "And that I am the only one who can stop the Enderking and save Amarisa. The first choice was too risky, and the only choice that could give me a chance was this one."

"Are you sure this is the decision you want to make, Riss?" the woman asked, just to confirm Riss's decision.

"I am certain that this is the choice I want to make," Riss replied.

"I see," the woman said, taking the choice in for a few moments, "In that case, I am glad you made that decision." After she said that, Riss took a few short moments to recognize that his life has just made a complete turn before speaking again.

"I assume I should head back to Harlock first," Riss said.

"Indeed," the woman replied, "But when you get there, you should check in the library for information on how to get to the Enderdragon. That kind of information is bound to be in the restricted section, but I'm sure King Iramod will be able to help you out with that."

"Okay," Riss said, "I guess I should get going. Thanks for the... uh... help!" After saying that, Riss turned around and begun walking back to Harlock town through the forest, with his feet steeping on the leaves that have fell.

"I wish you the best of luck, Riss," the woman said quietly after Riss has begun leaving, "The chosen hero of Mojang."


	6. Chapter 5: Harlock Kingdom

**Chapter 5: Harlock Kingdom**

Riss begun walking through the forest with his feet stepping on leaves that have fell due to the decrease in temperature from the season. Currently, Riss was heading back to Harlock town in order to learn more about what he has to do in order to defeat the Enderking. Plus, he figured that it would be nice to see the people he knew ten years later.

Riss came across the same cave he walked through when he went to the temple ten years earlier. He walked through the cave, hearing his feet make echos and the sound of water leaking through the stone as he continued. _After this cave, it should be a small walk through the forest before I get back to Harlock, _Riss thought as he walked through the cave.

Near the end of the cave, Riss saw light penetrating through the cave. He ran to the light, and surely enough, it was the exit. As his vision returned to normal after being in the dark cave for quite some time, Riss quickly realized that he wasn't in a forest. He was actually in a small field, and a massive wall was a short distance away. Riss quickly remembered that Harlock wasn't just a simple town anymore – it was the capital of a kingdom.

Riss walked up to the city gate to find it wide open. He looked around the area, and he saw that the soldiers at the top of the wall were obviously not paying attention to him. This is probably because they either don't know he's there, or they know he's there but they assume that he doesn't pose a threat. Either way, the soldiers were minding their own business, and Riss continued through the gates.

When Riss got through the gates, he found himself on a street with a large crowd of people walking down it, more interested in their own matters rather than the matters of other people. While most people looked straight ahead of themselves, Riss stood as a sore thumb in the crowd, continually looking around himself to take in the new Harlock.

_Wow... _Riss thought, _To believe that the town I once knew became this massive city..._ He continued to walk down the street, hoping to come across the library. He bumped into several people while walking down the stone slab street, but they simply shrugged it off. However, a few moments later, he bumped into one of the city guards that was walking down the street.

"You might wanna watch where you're going," the guard said, "But other than that, you seem confused. Is there anything I can help you out with?" The guard and Riss were caught in the middle of the street, but the other people walked around them as they spoke.

_Do I know him from somewhere? _Both the guard and Riss thought that. Riss tried to begin speaking, but the guard was faster to talk and begun speaking to Riss. "You look very much like a grown-up version of my son..." the guard said, "My son got lost about ten years ago, and... you look like you're sixteen years old... can I ask you two questions?"

"Uh... sure..." Riss replied, wondering what he was about to ask.

"Wonderful," the guard said, delighted, "Only my son can answer these questions correctly. First question: If you have ten muffins, and somebody asks for two, how many muffins do you have left?"

A sudden thought just rose from the dead in Riss's mind. He knew exactly how to answer this question, and he had a good feeling about what the second question would be. "Ten muffins," Riss replied confidently.

"Okay, that's correct," the guard replied, "Here's the second question. I know that only my son can answer this correctly. If you have ten muffins and somebody forcibly takes two, how many muffins do you have left?"

"Ten muffins and a dead body," Riss answered with excellent confidence. He knew that what the guard said would be the second question. "Mrs. Peters didn't really like those answers, but I'm sure you do... Dad."

"Son..." The guard, who was Telpur, Riss's dad, came in to hug his son, and Riss hugged back. "I missed you, son."

"I missed you too, dad." The crowd suddenly began to slow down as they saw the reunion that was happening in the middle of the street. The crowd looked confused at first, but eventually, a man in the crowd recognized Riss's face.

"The boy Telpur is hugging is his son!" the man shouted out, "Riss has returned to Harlock!" At first, the crowd began murmuring phrases like, 'He's all grown up!', 'Has it really been ten years?', and 'We thought he would never return!' In a few quick moments, the murmur turned into an all-out cheer from the crowd. For the time in which the crowd cheered for him, Riss felt amazing, like the piece that was missing from the puzzle that has yet to be completed.

"Ha-ha! It's great to have you back!" Telpur shouted at his son, trying to talk to him over to the cheering crowd, "Come on, we have to go tell King Iramod!" They began walking to the large castle that was visible in the distance, with the other guards helping to clear the path for the father and son.

"Yea- wait," Riss replied, "Iramod... is a king?" He looked at his father for a moment while they walked down the street.

"Well," Telpur began, "If you have a kingdom, you definitely have to have a king, right?" Riss understood now, and the two continued to walk down the stone slab street, trying to get through the large, cheering crowd that stood around them.


	7. Chapter 6: King Iramod

**Chapter 6: King Iramod**

The walk to the castle would have taken about five minutes, but because of the massive crowd, the walk was around ten minutes long. By the time they reached the castle, word had already gotten to it, and even though the gates were wide open, there were guards stationed at the entry in order to keep the massive crowd out. When Riss and Telpur got to the entry, the guards opened up a small hole in order to let the two in, which quickly closed up when they got in.

There was a massive castle in front of them, a castle that ruled Harlock and the kingdom it owned. It was made of stone and was about eight stories tall. Riss had an expression that showed amazement while Telpur had an expression that showed admiration at the kingdom's work.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Telpur asked Riss.

"Yea..." Riss replied, "It is..." Riss was still amazed at how massive the castle was.

"Ready to go meet the king?" Telpur asked his son.

"Totally," Riss answered. Telpur nodded, and they walked up to the stone castle in front of them, with the background noise of the cheering crowd behind them.

When the two walked in, they arrived in the throne room of the castle, and Iramod was sitting on his throne. The throne room was a massive stone room about three stories tall. When Riss walked in, Iramod suddenly became gleeful and couldn't sit still.

"Riss, my boy!" Iramod shouted in happiness, "Welcome back!" He ran over to give Riss a big hug, which Riss accepted awkwardly. Being king has made Iramod a lot thicker, yet he still gave other people the feeling that he was a powerful ruler. After pulling back, Iramod said, "How has it been lately?"

"Eh... well..." Riss started, trying to figure out what to say, "Let's just say that I've been asleep for the past ten years."

Iramod and Telpur simply stood there with a blank expression on his face, trying to figure out what Riss just said. A few short moments later, Iramod said, "Dinner's almost ready. Perhaps you can explain it then?"

"I will," Riss answered.

"The dining hall is out the door to the right of the throne. Want to go on ahead and get seated?"

"Sure." Iramod, Telpur, and Riss walked into the door Iramod specified, down a small hallway, and into the large dining hall that was in the room ahead. The dining hall was about two stories high with a grand fireplace on the wall to the left, a large dining table in the middle of the room, and a door leading to the kitchen on the right wall. Iramod's wife was already seated at the table, ready to greet the three that just walked in the dining hall.

"Hello Riss," Iramod's wife said once they got a bit closer, "It's nice to see you in the kingdom again. Boy, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yea, it has," Riss replied. Iramod took his seat at the end of the table closest to the fireplace, while Telpur decided to take a seat next to him. Riss had no clue whether there was a system to seating or not, so Riss took a seat next to his father. Iramod didn't seem to mind, so Riss assumed that it was okay.

A few moments later, the cooks began coming out in their usual plan white cooking clothes. They placed a small variety of food in front of the group at the table. It wasn't big, but Riss assumed that this was an example of a meal the royal family had if there wasn't any big parties coming to the castle.

"We would have thrown a feast for you," Iramod said, "But you arrived a wee bit too late for one."

"That's okay," Riss replied, "I think I got enough attention outside of the castle." After Riss spoke, the group began eating. The meal consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and water for a beverage.

"So Riss," Iramod began, "You said that you were asleep for the past ten years. Why is that?"

_How do I explain this... _Riss thought to himself before answering. After thinking, Riss finally came up with an explanation. "You see, I was put to sleep because I am the chosen hero or something."

Iramod spat out the water he was drinking and Iramod's wife gasped. "You're... you're the chosen hero?" Iramod asked with great shock.

"Yea," Riss replied, "I guess."

"Then our darkest hours are almost over."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain." Iramod set down his drink before explaining while Telpur and Iramod's wife leaned in closer. "When the Enderking came, he took Amarisa. I'm sure you already know that." Iramod seemed to flinch a little when he mentioned Amarisa.

"Yea, I do."

"When he managed to get Amarisa and set the terms for ransom, he remained in the kingdom a little longer to search for 'Notch's Chosen Hero'. When he couldn't find what he was looking for, he exited the kingdom and returned to the End."

"Wow..."

"After the Enderking left, I instantly went to the library to do research on 'Notch's Chosen Hero'. While at the library, I found an ancient scroll generated by Mojang's prophet. It was the Destiny Scroll for this era."

"What does that mean?"

"The Destiny Scroll is a prophecy that determines two possibilities for the end of the current era. One ending is the entry of a golden age for the world, and no evil will be in sight. However, the second ending involves the destruction of the world and the takeover of evil."

"So, the fate of the world lies in my own hands?"

"If you are the hero, and I have no doubt that you are."

"Okay. Also, I need to get into the restricted section of the library in order to learn more about what I should do as hero."

"If that's what you need, then it will be my pleasure to give you a pass to the restricted section. Also, you can stay in the castle overnight if you feel the need to."

"Thanks." For the rest of the time, the group ate in silence, only with the exception of a few phrases meant to get a conversation started such as "Lovely weather outside, isn't it?" After eating, Telpur went back outside to return to his post, Iramod and his wife returned to their thrones, and Riss was brought up to his room by a servant.

"You will make a great hero," the servant said to Riss while walking him up to his room, "I know it."

**Author's Notes:**

Hi! I don't usually add these to the end of chapters, but this is an exception. I have decided to rename the book to "The Destiny Scroll" because I saw it as a more fitting name for the book after writing this chapter. Also, I noticed that I may be derailing a small amount from the original story outline, but that's okay as long as the main storyline still goes in the same direction.

Anyways, thanks for reading so far, and be sure to look out for some more updates! Also, feel free to follow this book and leave a review if you want to do so!


	8. Chapter 7: Researching the Journey

**Chapter 7: Researching the Journey**

The next morning, Riss woke up in his room. Riss was halfway hoping that going to sleep would knock him out of what he thought of as his "Dream State", and that he would return to being a five-year-old. However, after looking around him, Riss became fully aware that he was no longer five, and that this was real life.

Riss's room wasn't much different from the rest of the guest rooms. His room had a simple bed, a chest, a furnace, and a crafting table. However, Riss's guest room offered a balcony he could walk onto, a feature only the guest rooms on his side of the hallway had.

Riss exited his room and started recalling the directions back to the dining hall. He recalled the directions as he walked – turn right, walk down to the staircase, walk down about two stories, head down the hallway on the first floor, turn left at the hallway that connected the throne room and the dining hall, then arrive at the dining hall.

Riss was expected to show up at the dining hall for breakfast. Riss had no problem with that, considering that he had the belief that the castle made a very delicious breakfast. As he walked down the hallway, he could smell the pancakes being made from his current position.

As Riss entered the dining hall, his nose was assaulted by a variety of amazing aromas from the breakfast. Pancakes and sausage entered his left nostril, while bacon went in his right nostril. Iramod and his wife were already sitting down at the table with several servants that were invited to eat breakfast with them.

"Morning," Iramod said to Riss after chewing up the pancake bite in his mouth. Riss took the same seat he took last night, and Iramod began speaking again.

"Help yourself to anything you like," Iramod told Riss when he sat down, "Our chef makes an amazing breakfast, but sometimes, he makes a little too much."

"Thanks," Riss replied. He put some pancakes and bacon on his plate and noticed that his goblet was already filled with milk. After cutting up his pancakes and pouring syrup on them, he began eating. The food tasted very good, even better than the pancakes he tasted back when he was five.

"Riss, there's still one thing I'm confused about," said a male servant from the other side of the table, "How were you kept full while you were asleep?"

"Yes, that's a very good question," said Iramod's wife, "How were you kept full?"

"Well, I guess the woman in the temple kept me fed while I was asleep," answered Riss.

"Ah, I see," Iramod replied, "I see." The group kept on eating breakfast with a conversation popping up every now and then. After Riss had his first course, Iramod offered Riss a second course. However, Riss decided that he was full and declined Iramod's offer.

After everyone was finished, Riss decided to head down to the library. Iramod handed him a note permitting Riss to go into the restricted section with Iramod's official seal on it. Once Riss received the note, he exited the castle gates and begun walking down the street towards the library.

Riss followed the directions Iramod gave him – turn left at the gates, head down past five houses, and turn left to arrive at the library. On the way down to the library, Riss got a small amount of attention. People would turn around to look at Riss as he walked down the street, but other than that, everyone knew that Riss was back, and the massive cheering had stopped.

Once Riss arrived at the library, he went through the double doors and into the library. There were bookshelves containing lots of books lined around the wall, and in the center lied the reception desk where people could check in, check out, and renew books.

Currently, a woman that seemed to be in her thirties was at the reception desk. Riss went over to the reception desk, for he thought he knew the woman stationed there.

"Hi, Mrs. Skyteller," Riss said to the woman.

"Oh, I'm not Mrs. Skyteller," the woman said, "I'm Florissa, and I volunteered here back when you were only five!" Florissa had a cheery sound in her voice.

"Oh yea," Riss replied, "Does Mrs. Skyteller still work here?"

"Yea, she's back at the door to the restricted section. She's really good at catching students and scholars who try to go in there without permission."

"Okay, and that's exactly where I need to go. Can you give me directions to it?"

"Yea, it's to the right and to the left after history bookshelf three. You have permission, right?"

"Yea, I have a note from the king."

"Cool. In that case, go on ahead, but don't be surprised if Mrs. Skyteller is a little... cranky. We have had lots of students from the University of Vesuvius try to come in lately."

"Okay. Thanks!" Riss turned right and started going down the many rows of bookshelves until he arrived at history bookshelf three. After that, he walked to the left and arrived at the door that led to the restricted section. As Florissa warned, Mrs. Skyteller was standing next to it.

"Hello, Mrs. Skytell-" Riss tried to say before being cut off by Mrs. Skyteller.

"Oh great," she began, "You seriously think that just because your some 'special hero', you'll get into the restricted section?"

"Actually, I have a note from-"

"I don't care if it's even from Iramod, you aren't getting in!"

"Actually, it is from Iramod..." Riss showed Mrs. Skyteller the note.

"Oh... uh... in that case... uh... I meant it sort of... uh... let's not tell him about this, shall we?"

"As long as you let me into the restricted section, I won't."

"Okay then. I guess I'll let you in." After that conversation, Mrs. Skyteller opened the doors to the restricted section. Riss walked into the opened door. Before going in, Riss noticed a bigger door on the wall further down the library, and it had a carving similar to the one on the town well.

"Hey Mrs. Skyteller, what's that door for?" asked Riss.

"I don't really know," replied Mrs. Skyteller, "That door has been there since Amarisa was kidnapped. The room is composed of bedrock, so nobody knows what is inside it.

"Okay." Riss continued walking past the door and into the restricted section of the library.

The restricted section was much darker than the rest of the library. It had several rows of bookshelves within it, only available to the eyes of those who have permission or to those who would go to extremes to obtain knowledge.

Riss figured that he should look for information on the End first. He walked around a little and found a row called "Other Worlds". After going into the row, he found a few books including _Depths of the Nether_ and _Great Skies of the Aether_. After going down the row a little more, he found a book called _Mysteries of the End – Revealed_. He picked up the book and went over to a table to open it up.

When he opened the book, it landed on the page for getting to the End. He began reading the page, hoping to find information.

In order to get to the End, you must find a portal and activate it. In order to activate it, you must craft about twelve Eyes of the Ender. In order to craft the eyes, you need Ender Pearls, which can be found by defeating Endermen, and Blaze Powder, which can be found by defeating Blazes at the Nether.

After you have found these ingredients, you need to craft the Eyes of the Ender. The recipe for crafting an Eye of the Ender is- The next page was ripped out. Riss tried looking at the page on the other side that was still intact, but it was just the start of the next section.

Riss knew what to look for next. He returned the book to the bookshelf and grabbed _Depths of the Nether_. Riss placed the book on the table and turned to the page involving Blazes. After he found the page, he began reading.

Blazes are highly unstable creatures that are composed of pure fire. If they register something as an enemy, they will not stop attacking the object until it has been destroyed. If one manages to defeat a blaze, he/she may receive a Blaze Rod, which can be crafted into three pieces of Blaze Powder.

After Riss read the section on Blazes, he decided that he needed to learn about how to get to the Nether. He found a page involving the entry to the Nether, turned to it, and began reading.

In order to get to the Nether, one must find a Nether portal and activate it. From Harlock, the nearest Nether portal is located in an abandoned town called Rellsta. In order to get through Rellsta, one must go under Mount Impass through an abandoned mineshaft. However, be aware that neither the town or the mineshaft have been journeyed through by a human in hundreds of years, and there are bound to be monsters in both of the locations.

After reading, Riss decided that he knew enough. He returned the book to the bookshelf and exited the library. He noticed that it was time for lunch, so he walked back down the street and returned to the castle in order to have lunch.


	9. Chapter 8: Preparing for Takeoff

**Chapter 8: Preparing for Takeoff**

Once Riss returned to the castle, he went into the dining hall where Iramod and his wife were already having a salami sandwich for lunch. He went over to the table, grabbed a sandwich, and began eating with the other two.

"So Riss," Iramod began, "Did you find out anything interesting?"

"Yea," Riss replied, "It seems as if I have a large journey ahead of me."

"Oh?"

"First off, I have to go under Mount Impass by going through an abandoned mineshaft. Once I get through there, I have to find a Nether portal in an abandoned town. Both of them haven't been touched by any human for hundreds of years."

"Oh... both sound quite intense."

"Indeed. After I have activated the Nether portal, I have to go into the Nether and find some Blaze Rods. Also, I have to find Ender Pearls as well." Iramod's eyes seemed to widen after hearing what Riss had to say so far. "After I found both, I have to craft Eyes of the Ender and somehow find and activate an End Portal." There were several moments of silence before Iramod spoke again.

"Riss, those tasks sound... outrageous. Sadly, I can't help you with those, because if our kingdom gets attacked when I am gone... well... the results would be devastating. You may have to take on this challenge alone."

"I was sort of prepared for that. I guess that if I am a hero, I have to take on challenges alone."

"That sounds about right. Even though I'm not coming with you, I will still support you. Take this." He handed Riss a full sack of coins. "There's three hundred Harlons in here. That should buy you a good sword, enough food for a journey, and some potions just in case you run into any trouble.

"Thanks."

"You can head down to the market once you're finished with lunch. To get to the market, you need to turn right after exiting the castle, head down about two houses far, and turn left. The market should be right there." After that, the group continued to eat.

Once Riss was done eating, he left the castle and began walking down to the market. He followed the directions Iramod gave him, being sure to turn when he was told to turn. Eventually, Riss got to a small plaza where stalls and small buildings were set up around it. The market.

Riss began walking through the market, not sure on what to buy first. He found many items in the market – diamonds priced at high Harlon amounts, sugar cane for those who want to craft paper, and even a stall that sells various tools such as compasses and maps. Eventually, Riss came up to a small blacksmith shop building. He decided that a sword might be in there, so he went inside.

Inside the blacksmith shop, he saw a variety of tools on the wall for nearly every purpose. Also, he could smell the smoke from the furnace that the blacksmith was making ingots in. Eventually, he found the blacksmith himself and began talking to him.

"Hi," Riss began. The blacksmith turned around from his workstation and began speaking back.

"'Afternoon mate," the blacksmith said in an obvious Australian accent, "What can I get for ya?"

"I need a good, durable sword that will manage to get me through a journey."

"Ah, you're that hero... what was the name... Riss!"

"Yep!"

"You're in luck, because I just finished crafting an iron sword right here, right off of the crafting table." He picked up the sword from the crafting table and signaled Riss to step back. He then began swinging the sword around a few times, and Riss saw how efficiently the sword worked.

"I think I'll take it," Riss said, "How much does it cost?"

"Usually, it costs around six hundred Harlons," replied the blacksmith, with Riss almost taking a small gasp, "But since you're the chosen hero, I'll probably reduce the price to one hundred-fifty Harlons."

"Thanks, I'll take it." Riss reached into the sack, grabbed the amount of Harlons needed, and gave it to the blacksmith. After he gave the money, the blacksmith gave him the sword.

"Oh yea, I forgot, it comes with a scabbard!" exclaimed the blacksmith. He reached up to the ceiling, grabbed a scabbard, and gave it to Riss. "Just put this around your shoulders to make carrying your sword easier."

"Thanks!" Riss replied. He then put the new sword in its scabbard and put the scabbard around his shoulders. After he felt comfortable with it, he gave the blacksmith a small smile and left the store.

"Thanks for your business!" shouted the blacksmith in his Australian accent as Riss left.

As Riss left the blacksmith stop, he noticed a food stall across from the shop and to the right a small bit. However, the girl who was currently buying food at the stall seemed familiar to Riss. He decided to go to the food stall not only to buy food, but also to see why the girl looks so familiar.

When he got to the stall, he managed to get a better look at the girl. She had red hair, and she wore the same clothing most people at Harlock wear. However, what made her look familiar was that she was wearing a green jacket on top of the shirt. After noticing that feature, Riss had a good feeling about who she was.

"Treka?" Riss asked the girl.

"R... Riss?" replied the girl, who began to grow a smile on her face, "Wow! Dude, it's been such a long time!" Treka was a tomboy who was busy training to be a special agent for Harlock's military. The special agents could be considered as spies; they were typically agile and stealthy.

"Yea, it has been a long time!" Riss began looking at the food, deciding what to buy.

"So, I hear you're going on a huge adventure soon," said Treka.

"How did you know?" Riss asked.

"Well, it does help to train to be a special agent..."

"Oh yea. Say, how's Kaldar doing?"

"He's fine, and he's been trying to perform a 'sneak attack' for a while. So far, I've been beating him in it, thirty-five to nothing."

"Ah. Yep, that's definitely Kaldar."

"Going back to the adventure, I think I should come with you. After all, two is better than one, and if Kaldar comes with us... well... that makes two-and-a-half."

"Well... I don't think you should come. After all, you have training to complete."

"Didn't you say that you were staying with the king?"

"Yea, why?"

"Don't you think that he could make an exception?"

"I guess he could..."

"In that case, I guess I'll come with you back to the castle. Now, did you want to buy any food?"

"Yea..." Riss then bought thirty pieces of porkchop for sixty Harlons, just in case Treka (and possibly Kaldar) tagged along. After Riss put the porkchop back into the backpack he brought along for shopping. Once the porkchop was put away, Riss noticed a potion stall half-way in between the food stall and the exit. Riss and Treka decided to head over there to buy some potions.

After buying about ten health potions for ninety Harlons, Riss and Treka decided that they were prepared and began to leave the marketplace. Once they were out, Treka began speaking.

"Well," Treka said, "I guess it's time to go find Kal-"

"SNEAK ATTACK!" shouted a random voice from behind them. Treka signaled for Riss to step back, and Treka calmly stepped one step to the side and stuck her left foot out. The person eventually got to them, but Treka's foot managed to trip him. Luckily, the person caught his fall and only landed softly on his back.

"Thirty-six to nothing now!" said Treka as she gave a small chuckle. Riss instantly knew who he was.

"Must stink to get beat by a girl, doesn't it?" said Riss as he helped the person, who was Kaldar, up from the ground.

"Well, that's no surprise with Treka," said Kaldar as he got up. Next, Kaldar began speaking to Treka. "Next time, it'll be thirty-six to one!"

"Good luck with that," Treka replied, punching Kaldar playfully on his back. Kaldar was also in training, but he was training to become a knight for Harlock. His instructor considered him to have "Lots of brawn but little brain", which he also said could be both a good thing and a bad thing in knighthood.

"So, I heard you're going on an adventure, eh?" Kaldar asked to Riss, "And you might need help. Luckily, I'm here, and I can provide help."

"I don't know..." Riss replied, "But we can take you back to Iramod and see what he has to say about it."

"Sounds great," Kaldar replied. After the discussion, the group walked back to the castle, and Riss led them to the dining hall in the castle.

Once the group arrived in the dining hall, Treka and Kaldar began coming back to their senses. They were awestruck by the massiveness of the castle they had just entered, and they were brought back to normal senses when they entered the Dining Hall. Also, Iramod saw them.

"Welcome back, Riss!" shouted Iramod, "I see you brought some friends."

"Yea, and I need you to answer something," said Riss.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Would it be wise for me to bring Treka and Kaldar on the adventure? After all, they can provide more help in ugly situations."

"Hmm..." Iramod gave some thought to the question. "Well, you're the hero, and this is your adventure. Do you think it would be wise for them to come along?"

Riss took Iramod's question into consideration before answering it. Riss could only see positives with bringing the other two along. Plus, they were Riss's best friends, and Riss knew that he could trust them.

"I'll bring them along," Riss answered.

"I would've chose that too," Iramod replied. Iramod then began speaking to Treka and Kaldar. "I'll also allow them to eat dinner with us and stay in the castle overnight." Riss nodded and Treka and Kaldar smiled. The three got in their seats and began eating. That night's dinner was roast beef with rice.

Dinner was mainly quiet, but a conversation began when Kaldar asked, "Hey, will our instructors allow this?"

"I'll be sure to inform them as you leave tomorrow," Iramod replied. After that, they continued dining in near silence until everyone's plate was empty.

"I recommend that you three go to sleep early," Iramod said, "Your big quest begins tomorrow, and the least you could do right now is to get a good night's rest. There is no other guests staying in the castle right now, so Treka and Kaldar, you two can choose whichever room you like. Riss will lead you to where he's staying."

"Okay," Treka replied. A moment later, Riss signaled Treka and Kaldar to follow him. He led them up to the room he was staying at. Treka decided to sleep in the room to the right of Riss and Kaldar decided to sleep in the room to the left of Riss.

Before going to bed, Riss took one last look out of the window next to his bed. He realized that this will be the last night for a while in Harlock. Tomorrow, for all he knew, he might be sleeping in the woods.


	10. Chapter 9: The Journey's First Day

**Chapter 9: The Journey's First Day**

Riss woke up early the next morning. He got out of his bed and found his way back downstairs and into the dining hall, where Iramod, his wife, Treka, and Kaldar were already eating. Riss's dad was also eating with them.

"Morning sleepyhead," said Treka with a full mouth.

"To believe I was the early bird..." said Riss while taking his seat.

"You won't believe how early they make us wake up in the academy," noted Kaldar as he ate a pancake bite. Riss noticed that the breakfast today was similar to yesterday's breakfast. Today, there was pancakes, bacon, and toast.

"So Riss," Iramod began, "Do you have all of the supplies you need?"

"Yea, I do," Riss replied. He put some pancakes and bacon on his plate, poured some syrup on the pancakes, and began eating.

"Now Riss, you be careful out there," said Telpur, "There may be lots of monsters out there, but I'm sure you'll deal with them quickly."

"Thanks Dad," Riss replied. The group continued to eat in near-silence until everybody's plate was empty. After everyone was done with breakfast, Iramod began speaking again.

"Do you have your supplies with you right now, Riss?"

"Yea, they're in my backpack," said Riss while Iramod took notice of it, "In fact, we can probably leave right now!" Treka and Kaldar nodded in agreement. They also had their supplies and weapons with them.

"Okay," Iramod replied, "Oh, and I've also contacted both of your instructors. They said that it was okay for you two to go out on an adventure."

"Thanks," said Treka. The six people at the table continued to eat their meals until their plates were empty. After everybody finished breakfast, Iramod began to speak again.

"Since Riss said that he could leave right now," Iramod said, "I think we should head outside." Everybody got up from the massive table and walked outside into the castle courtyard, where they were about to say their goodbyes.

Once Riss and the rest of the crew was outside, Riss noticed that his dad was coming to hug him. He hugged back, with some tears running down from his dad's eyes.

"Easy come, easy go, I guess," said Riss's dad. Their hug was maintained for a few short moments before finally letting go. "Be sure to take care out there, Riss. Make your kingdom proud."

"I will, dad," replied Riss, with a small amount of tears beginning to stream down his cheeks as well. Riss then turned around and went back to regroup with Treka and Kaldar.

"You three be careful while journeying," shouted Iramod as the three were beginning to take off.

"We will!" Kaldar shouted back. Iramod, his wife, and Telpur waved as the other three left, while Riss, Treka, and Kaldar waved back. Eventually, they vanished from sight, and Iramod's wife began speaking to her husband.

"The Destiny Scroll is about to be fulfilled," she said, "We have a hero."

While the three left the kingdom and entered the woods, the situation became a bit more casual, and their voices began to loosen up a little.

"So," Riss said while they were walking through the woods, "What happened to Harlock while I was gone?"

"Nothing much, aside from the fact that Amarisa was captured," Treka replied, "Iramod became a king, your dad became a guard, Kaldar and I began training, and... well... you took a ten-year nap."

"Hey Riss, can I see your sword for a sec?" Kaldar asked. Riss nodded and reached for his sword. He pulled it out of its scabbard and handed it to Kaldar. After warning Riss and Treka to step back a little bit, he swung the sword around a few times, getting a feel of it. After wielding it, he handed it back to Riss, where he put it back in its scabbard.

"This sword is pretty sharp, with signs that it was just recently made," Kaldar judged, "But it's slightly on the heavy side. But it shouldn't be a problem." The group continued to travel through the woods, getting farther from Harlock and closer to the mineshaft.

Before too long, the sun was in the middle of the skies, and the group realized it was time for lunch. The group settled down and got out food from their backpacks – Riss got out a piece of porkchop he bought from the stall, Treka got out cooked chicken, while Kaldar got out a piece of cooked beef. After getting things out, the group began eating their meal.

"So Riss," Treka began while eating, "You know about how you, Kaldar, Amarisa, and I would've gotten together at the playground the day you went to the temple?"

"Yea, why?" Riss replied. Kaldar seemed interested, so he added his own input.

"Let's just say that Amarisa said something... interesting!" Kaldar said.

"What did she say?" Riss asked.

"I don't know," Treka replied, "But it was interesting indeed."

"Come on, what did she say?" It was obvious in Riss's voice that he wanted to figure out what Amarisa said ten years ago.

"We will tell you," said Kaldar, with a small grin growing on Riss's face, "If we manage to rescue Amarisa." Treka nodded in agreement.

Riss facepalmed himself with food in his mouth. The other two chuckled, noticing how Riss's hopes for discovery were postponed. After that conversation, the group finished their meal under the shade of the trees, and they put their items back into their backpack before setting off again.

The group traveled for the rest of the afternoon through the woods. An interesting story would pop up every now and then from either Amarisa or Treka, such as the time in which Kaldar was bound to his bed by string by his own roommates. Also, there was the traditional dance thirteen-year old kids attended (which Riss missed), and much to Riss's surprise, Kaldar took Treka to the dance. Kaldar grinned at the old memories while Treka looked away from him with a blush on her face.

Once the sun began setting and the sky begun turning orange, the group decided to settle down. Treka reached down into her backpack and pulled out a sleeping bag to sleep in. Just as Riss realized that he forgot to get his own sleeping bag, Kaldar managed to pull out one for him.

"Thanks man," said Riss when he got the sleeping bag from Kaldar.

"No problem," replied Kaldar. After everyone was settled, the group decided to have dinner before night came. Dinner wasn't very different from lunch – Riss had the usual porkchop, Treka had the usual chicken, and Kaldar had the usual beef. While having dinner, Kaldar and Treka began to tell Riss about what it was like at training for them.

"My instructor is a pretty cool man," Kaldar said, looking up at the skies while remembering the memories, "But he can be somewhat strict on occasions. Plus, we usually trained from six in the morning to eight at night. Excluding meals and small breaks, of course."

"You guys have it nicely when it comes to sleep," said Treka while looking at Kaldar, "Sometimes, at the special agent training, we are waken up during the middle of the night for unannounced "Agent Drill"." After Treka pointed that out, Kaldar and her kept on arguing over who had a worse time at training until the moon came up.

"I guess it's time to go to bed," said Riss. Kaldar and Treka came out of their arguing trance and looked up at the skies. Surely enough, they were surprised that the skies turned dark.

"Oh well," said Treka, "But before we go to bed, can you do us a favor, Riss?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Try not to sleep in for about ten years this time."

**Author's Notes:**

Woo! Got chapter nine done!

Anyways, sorry about this chapter taking a little longer. School is coming up for me, and that might slow down the progress I make on this book. Plus, I had to get some summer assignments done, and I also had to go to band camp for about a week.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the book so far, and feel free to leave a review, follow the book, or maybe even favorite it as you read along! Thanks!


	11. Chapter 10: Enderman Encounter

**Chapter 10: Enderman Encounter**

As the moon appeared in the skies, Riss and Kaldar got into their sleeping bags and got themselves comfortable. However, Treka stayed out of her sleeping bag. In fact, she actually grabbed her bow and continued to remain standing. She then started examining the environment, as if she was looking for an unknown threat.

"Hey Treka, what's up?" asked Riss.

"Taking up first watch," she replied, "Somebody has to make sure nobody ambushes us, right?"

"Good point."

"Kaldar has second watch, and you have third watch. Kaldar will wake you up when it's his turn to take up watch, considering that he remembers the moon position I tell him when he wakes up..."

"Okay, got it." After Riss understood what Treka was doing, he decided to go to sleep. It took a few moments for it to happen, but eventually, the tiredness that Riss built up over the day kicked in, and Riss dozed off.

As Riss slept, he had a dream. Once again, he found himself in the skies, much like the place he found himself in when he was five years old. A small worry began to bubble up in Riss.

"Riss?" asked the same divine female voice that greeted him back when he was five years old.

"Do I have to take a nap for another ten years?" asked Riss sarcastically.

"No, silly," replied the voice while laughing a little bit, "But there is something you must find as the chosen hero."

"What do I need to find?"

"Do you know about the abandoned town you will arrive at after traveling through the mineshaft?"

"Yea, what about it?"

"There's something we need you to get while at the town."

"What is it?"

The voice took a deep breath before saying the answer. "It's a sacred sword. It's one of the swords that the knights of Mount Mojang use. It's made of Mojanite, which is harvested from the depths of Mount Mojang. It also has a property that allows it to absorb light."

"So this sword will be able to absorb light?"

"Well... maybe. Mojang has yet to figure out how to harness that energy. When they do, the sword will become more versatile than ever."

"Okay, so where in the town is the sword?"

"When you enter, go to your left. You may have to look around a little, because the sword is hidden somewhere in the town grove. However, only you can wield the sword, and one of the Enderking's men had to learn that the hard way."

"So the Enderking knows where the sword is?"

"Perhaps. If he does, then he'll have Endermen guarding it, just waiting for you to stumble across the sword."

"Okay. Is there anything else I need to know about this sword?"

"There is nothing else. Now prepare to wake up, it is almost your turn to take watch." Riss's heart almost skipped a beat when she said that. He thought that he would have to wake up ten years later again. But after hearing the last few words, he calmed down and returned into reality.

"Yo Riss, wake up," said Kaldar quietly as he shook Riss awake. Riss rose from the bed sluggishly, looking at Kaldar very tiredly. "It's your turn to take watch." Riss regained his energy as he heard Kaldar's words. Riss got out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his iron sword. In the meantime, Kaldar snuggled up in his sleeping bag and dozed off instantly, obviously looking forward to squeezing in the last few hours of sleep he had.

Riss began examining the environment. He carefully inspected each piece of forest greenery that entered his view. Riss suddenly remembered that mobs such as creepers, zombies, and skeletons spawn during the night. However, they weren't spawning! Riss pondered over that fact for a moment, and a after a few brief moments, he came to the conclusion that they were in the mineshaft – a mob kingdom.

The next couple hours went on very boringly for Riss. He tried to keep himself from getting distracted, for if he did, he might not notice a detail that could be an intruder. And that missed detail could cost the group their lives.

Riss looked back out to the night sky. The moon wasn't exactly on the horizon yet, but it was getting close to that point. However, as he looked, he heard a noise to the left. He looked to the direction that the noise came from, and surely enough, the bush was slowing down from rattling. Somebody saw them.

Riss began studying the environment around the bush more carefully, but there were no more signs of the intruder. He concluded that the intruder was scared off due to the possibility of being caught, and he went back to his light idling. However, just as he got back, he heard a noise from right behind him that almost stopped his heart.

Just before the dark figure that appeared right behind Riss could smash his arms down on him, he rolled out of the way. Riss grabbed his iron sword and scurried back up.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" shouted Riss repeatedly as he got ready to face the new dark figure. The other two jolted up instantly and grabbed their respective weapons. They got ready to fight, and the dark figure charged right towards them.

Kaldar stepped right in the figure's charging path and rose his sword. The sword took most of the force from the figure's arm smash, but it eventually became too much for him. Kaldar fell backwards from the excessive force, and just as he did, an arrow whistled by the figure's body. The figure looked at the shooter, and Treka looked back, frozen in terror.

The figure began charging towards Treka. Treka tried to put another arrow on the string, but the figure was too fast. However, Riss was standing on the side and in between the two, and if he timed his slash right, he could wound the figure. Treka noticed Riss's strategy and began communicating with him.

"On my mark!" she shouted as Riss began getting ready to slash, "One... two... three!" Riss wildly slashed his sword once. Riss thought he missed for a moment, but when he looked, he saw a massive purple gash from where the figure was slashed. The figure also tripped during his charge and began to grasp the gash with obvious signs that he was in pain.

"Hey... looks like we got a prisoner!" shouted Kaldar as he tried to get back up. As he said that, Riss tried to approach the figure, but as he got closer, the figure simply took one more look at Riss. When Riss was ready to drag the figure along, it vanished, leaving behind a small amount of purple particles.

"No... it can't be..." said Treka in disbelief, dropping her bow in the process, "This is bad..."

"What's bad?" asked Riss.

"That was an Enderman, one of the Enderking's soldiers. If I'm right, he just teleported back to the End, ready to deliver an entire library's worth of intel on us."

"Oh. In that case, should we get moving?"

"Nah... it takes them about an hour to get from here to the End, and it takes twice as long to go the other way."

"In that case, let's get some more rest."

"Good idea. You can get some shuteye too; it's only about an hour until sunrise."

"Thanks." Riss went back to his sleeping bag while Treka noticed that Kaldar was struggling with the cuts that the Enderman had gave him.

"Need some help there?" she asked while pulling some bandages out of her backpack nearby.

"Yea... could use a little patching up," Kaldar replied.

"That's okay, I have just what you need." She pulled out a small pack of bandages from her backpack and began applying them to his cuts.

"Thanks..." After she applied the bandages, they also went back into their sleeping bags. However, it was only about ten minutes later when Kaldar said, "You guys can't get any sleep either?"

"Nah," replied both Treka and Riss. The group rose from their sleeping bags and stood up. When they were finally standing, they seemed as if they had been awake for several hours.

"Let's go ahead and get ready for the day," suggested Treka. Riss and Kaldar nodded, and they picked up their sleeping bags, shook the small amount of dirt off of it, and returned it to their backpacks.

While the group was preparing to take off, the same Enderman that ambushed them traveled many gigaparsecs away from them, which was around the end of the universe itself. When he reached his target, he quickly bolted inside the large castle doors. Inside, he found a figure that seemed to be darker and more intimidating than himself.

"Your report?" asked the figure calmly in the Enderman language.

"Your suspicions were right, your majesty," replied the Enderman, "They are heading to the mineshaft. Also, after interpreting the boy's dreams, it seems as if he wants the sword as well."

"Hmm... you did good," responded the figure. He turned to face an Enderman at his left and began speaking to him, "Prepare a small ambush party. He is to go nowhere beyond that mineshaft."

**Author's Notes:**

Hello! Sorry that this chapter took nearly forever... many factors such as school, Team Fortress 2, and many other things contributed to my procrastination. Hopefully I will create the next chapter much quicker.


	12. Chapter 11: Destination Mineshaft

**Chapter 11: Destination Mineshaft**

Breakfast proved to move along rather quickly and clumsily for the group. Nobody spoke, everybody focused on eating, and the group was also shaky from the attack. Kaldar nearly dropped his food onto his lap at one point. Eventually, Treka decided to break the ice at the end of breakfast.

"If we leave now, we can get there by lunch," mentioned Treka.

"Good point," replied Riss, "How about you, Kaldar?"

"Sounds good," answered Kaldar. After running some basic checks to make sure that the group had everything packed into their backpacks, they walked back out onto the forest trail and began to walk again.

About twenty minutes into the walk, Kaldar asked, "If we struggled like that with the Enderman... then what will happen when we face the Enderking?"

"I don't really know," replied Treka, "But I believe that our skills will be refined as we go along with trying to get to his realm."

"Sounds good," said Riss. After that conversation, the group continued to travel through the forest with only conversations about random topics peeping up every now and then. When the sun was half-way into the sky, the group decided to stop for lunch.

While eating, Riss looked to his left at first, his vision picked up nothing out of the ordinary, but suddenly, he noticed a small patch of darkness in the mountains that was cut off by the small hill blocking his view.

"Be right back," said Riss. Kaldar and Treka simply nodded; they were too focused on their food. Riss began walking over to the dark patch. After he climbed the hill, he managed to get a good look at the darkness. Riss felt a warm sensation in his pants.

"GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!" shouted Riss as he dashed down the hill. Kaldar and Treka put down their food and went to the hyperactive Riss.

"Guy and...?" asked Treka.

"You're a tomboy," replied Riss with signs of a slight natural high in his voice. Kaldar chuckled at Riss's response while Treka rolled her eyes.

"But seriously, what did you see?"

"Come check it out." The group gathered their items and walked up the hill. When they got there, Kaldar and Treka were amazed as well.

"Definitely the Mineshaft," judged Treka.

"What should we do now?" asked Kaldar.

"Well, we're done with lunch and we have our items," mentioned Riss, "so should we head in?"

"Guess so," answered Treka. She started leading the way while Riss and Kaldar followed. However, while walking, Treka's trained ears picked up some rustling in the leaves... and a muffled Enderman sound.

"Watch out!" shouted Treka. Before they had time to react, the group was surrounded by about ten Endermen that were ready to act at any sudden moment.

"Bzzt bzzt blalt bzzt bzzt bop," said the Enderman in its language.

"Blalt bzzt bzzt bzzt blalt bzzt bop," replied Kaldar in the Enderman language.

"What did you say to him?" asked Riss quietly, "And how did you even learn to speak... uh... Enderspeak?"

"I learned how to speak their language at school... sort of," answered Kaldar, "And I think I said "hi" to him and asked him for his intentions."

"Bzzt blalt blalt blalt bzzt bop!" replied the Enderman in Enderspeak.

"And I think he just called my mother something very inappropriate..." translated Kaldar.

"Ah, darn those humans," said the Enderman in a very noticeable Enderman accent, "Lay your items on the ground and we will not harm you."

The group gave a slight consideration to resistance. However, they realized that they had no power against them, so they reluctantly placed their items on the ground.

"Come with us," said one of the Endermen after talking with his allies. Just as the the group was about to follow, a sudden burst of light was blasted at the Endermen. Kaldar and Treka had to look back, but for some reason, Riss was able to see inside the light clearly. He saw the light disintegrate the bodies of the panicking Endermen until they were no more.

When the light beam died down, Riss saw a very familiar woman at the firing end. A few seconds later, he realized that it was the elderly woman from the temple.

"I assume my aid has helped? " asked the woman.

"Yea... uh... thanks," answered Riss.

"No problem," replied the woman, "But don't be discouraged when you go into this mineshaft. There will be many monsters beyond that cavern, but i am certain that you can handle it. The Developers at Mount Mojang are watching you three as you progress. They are bound not to directly interfere, but they will help whenever they can."

Suddenly, the group felt that they were ready to take on anything. "Thanks," said Riss. The woman nodded and vanished back into the wind.

"On three, we walk into that mineshaft and dominate it," declared Riss, "One..." The group took a massive step towards the mineshaft. "Two..." The group was just one large step away from the mineshaft. Riss took a deep breath before moving on to the final number. "Three."

**Author's Notes**

Well, I somehow managed to get chapter 11 done. Hopefully I will be able to make chapter 12 sooner. Anyways, thanks for reading so far, and be sure to leave a review if you like!


	13. Chapter 12: Mineshaft Maze

**Chapter 12: Mineshaft Maze**

When the group finally walked beyond the light of the surface and into the mineshaft, this was their first thought – _overwhelming_. The arrived at an intersection immediately, hopelessly confused about where to go next.

"I think we should go left," proposed Riss.

"How about we try going right?" suggested Treka.

"Well, the left leads into a path, while the right dips down to who-knows-what."

"Yea, but the right could dip down to our way out." Riss and Treka continued to debate about the next direction until Kaldar pitched in.

"Look, we're trying to go to the other side of the mountain, right?" asked Kaldar.

"Yea..." replied Riss.

"So why don't we head straight ahead?" Treka and Riss nodded amongst themselves. After confirming the decision with Kaldar, the group decided to head straight.

"Murrrrrrrrrrn..." mumbled a voice in the distance.

"Stop for a second..." said Treka quietly. Kaldar and Riss stood silently to listen for the voice again.

"Moarrrrrrrrrrrrrn..." mumbled the voice again. It was getting closer.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." whispered Kaldar.

Riss took a quick look behind him and couldn't believe what he saw. The figure had green skin and ripped clothes that resembled those of a human. Plus, it had its arms extended, ready to grasp whatever came in its way.

"Why are you-" began Kaldar before turning around himself. Instead of extreme shock, confidence could be visible on Kaldar's face. A moment later, he rose up, ready to confront the zombie.

"Out of all of your stupid ideas, this has to be on the top!" whispered Treka to Kaldar.

"They trained me for this," responded Kaldar, "and I am ready!" He instantly unsheathed his sword and charged at the zombie.

"I guess he should have thought about his will earlier in life," whispered Treka to herself. However, much to Treka's surprise, Kaldar proved himself to be shockingly skilled at zombie combat. As the zombie rose his hands to grab Kaldar's neck, Kaldar anticipated it and leaped to the side and performed an uppercut, cutting the zombie's arms off. After decapitating the zombie's arms, Kaldar smashed the hilt of the sword of the zombie's head, knocking him back unconsciously. After the zombie landed on the ground, Kaldar shifted to a two-handed grip and dove the sword directly in the zombie's heart, killing it on impact.

Treka and Riss gazed at the gruesome aftermath with awe. "I made quite a mess, didn't I?" asked Kaldar after looking back at their expressions.

"Well, at least he's out of the way," pointed out Riss. Kaldar went back to rejoin Treka and Riss and the group began walking straight ahead. As they traveled the path, they walked down a small slope that led to another portion of the mineshaft. After that, they came to a t-intersection. However, to the right, they saw a massive cluster of spiderwebs.

"What do you think could be behind there?" asked Treka.

"I have no idea," replied Riss, "Do you think I explored mineshafts in my dreams?"

"Well..." started Kaldar before looking right and seeing some rustling in the webs, "Wait... something's wrong." Treka and Riss looked in Kaldar's direction and saw rustling in the webs as well."

"Please don't tell me that cave spiders are behind there as well..." said Treka. All three of them unsheathed their swords automatically, waiting for the threat that was behind the sea of webs. However, as they watched, the webs suddenly stopped shaking. But as the group began to put down their guard, a spider suddenly jumped right out of the webs! Treka was fast enough to whack the spider away with her sword, knocking it unconscious. However, as that occurred, another spider popped out.

"Don't let it bite you!" shouted Treka while trying to slice the next spider, "You'll get poisoned if you do!" Treka managed to successfully kill the second spider, but two more could be seen behind the webs.

"It's useless to keep on fighting them!" pointed out Riss, "Let's go the other way!" Kaldar and Treka didn't have to speak to agree with him. The three of them dashed down the other path, dashing until they got to the next t-intersection. Luckily, there wasn't a cluster of webs on the side.

"I think we lost 'em," said Kaldar. The group was panting, trying to recover their strength.

"I never expected this many monsters..." mentioned Riss.

"I sort of expected them," said Treka, "but I didn't know that they would overwhelm us like this." Just as the group was busy recovering their energy, they heard footsteps from the left tunnel. Treka took a look in that direction and instantly became frozen in fear.

"Uh..." said Riss before looking left as well. He instantly froze in fear, and as Kaldar looked, he froze in fear as well. The figure that was approaching them was a four-legged green creature with a depressed look on his face. This creature struck fear in almost everyone it saw. It was a creeper.

"Nobody... move..." said Treka.

"Are you crazier than I am?" asked Kaldar, "If we stay still, he'll blow us into pieces!" When creepers approached their target, they detonate themselves, exploding everything and everybody in its blast radius.

"I know it's a creeper," stated Treka, "But when I say so, we need to dash as far as possible down the other hall. Got it?" Both Kaldar and Riss nodded.

As the creeper inched down the hallway, time seemed to slow down for the group. If Treka's plan worked, they would be able to advance with a creeper out of the way. However, if her plan failed, then it would be the end of the journey.

"SSSsssssssssssss..." the creeper made this sound when it was close to the group.

"NOW!" shouted Treka. All three of them began dashing down the hall as if their lives were at stake. As they ran, they heard the sound of an explosion and a small pounding force on their backs. Riss nearly tripped but was able to regain his balance before falling.

When the three looked back, they saw a hole where the creeper had exploded. As they went to investigate it, Treka noticed a a hole in the wall that led down another path.

"Let's take that path and see where it leads us," declared Treka. Kaldar and Riss nodded, so the group began heading down the path. As they walked under the wooden arches in the mineshaft, the group talked among themselves.

"So Treka," asked Riss, "What are these special agents about?"

"Well," said Treka, "we specialize in stealth and information gathering. Did you know that the night before you went to the library, you dreamed about-"

"Too much information!" blurted out Riss.

"Oh come on, only Kaldar will hear it," mentioned Treka, "and besides, he usually doesn't pay attention..." Kaldar rolled his eyes. _Doesn't pay attention, eh? _He thought, _We'll see who doesn't pay attention now... _Kaldar stuck out his leg in front of Treka's causing her to trip!

"Aah!" shouted Treka. Luckily, she caught her fall, but it was still humiliating for her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you talking about yourself not paying attention?" asked Kaldar jokingly, "Oh, and thirty-six to one." Kaldar placed emphasis on the 'one'.

"Hey, can we settle down at that corner over there for a few moments?" asked Riss.

"Sure," answered Treka while getting up from the ground. The group spread out around the corner and began stretching out while sitting down. However, while Riss and Kaldar began talking, Treka suddenly noticed a strange feature in the path ahead of them. At the end of the path, there are wooden planks rather than stone. Also, after a short distance, the wooden planks turn into stone again. _Could it be a bridge? _Thought Treka, _I have to go check it out._

"Hey guys," said Treka, "I'll be right back." While walking over to the area, she noticed that the wooden planks did form a bridge. Also, when she looked to her right, she noticed some light gleaming out of a hole in the wall. _That could be the exit!_ Treka thought. However, there was a massive obstacle in the way that Kaldar and Riss had to see. And she was standing right above it.

"Hey guys," said Treka while heading back over to Riss and Kaldar, "I've got some good news and some bad news."

"The good news?" asked Kaldar.

"I think we found our way out."

"Sweet! But what about the bad?"

"Well... you'll have to see for yourself." Kaldar and Riss began following Treka to the bridge. When they got there, they were glad to see the exit, but they were astonished to see it at where it was at.

"I think I know what this is," began Riss, "I think this is a ravine... and the exit is at the bottom of the ravine."

**Author's Notes:**

Well, I believe that I managed to get this chapter done much more quickly. Anyways, how did you think this chapter came along? Please leave a review if you want to!

Fun Fact: Before publishing this chapter, I removed a paragraph that gave a rather disgusting description of the aftermath of the duel between Kaldar and the zombie.


	14. Chapter 13: Crafting a Way Out

**Chapter 13: Crafting a Way Out**

"How do you think we're supposed to get all the way down there?" asked Riss.

"We could jump down," mentioned Kaldar, "After all, it's the simplest way down."

"Good idea, Kaldar!" said Treka in a very sarcastic tone, "We'll definitely get down there! Just let me write out my will first..." Treka began reaching into her backpack.

"It's okay, Treka," said Riss, "But I still don't know how we are going to get down there." The group pondered over this question for a few moments. Kaldar slowly swung his sword around casually, trying to find an answer in the idling time, Treka stood near a wall, trying to come up with an idea, while Riss began pacing around. Finally, Treka came up with an idea.

"Hey Kaldar," said Treka, "Remember that Crafting 101 class we took?"

"Barely," replied Kaldar, "All I remembered how to make was a crafting table, some sticks, a pickaxe, and a sword."

"Good. That's just the recipes we need. Plus, we have the wood from the mineshaft. Considering that we need enough wood to make a crafting table, some sticks, and a pickaxe, I assume we need... eh... nine wooden planks?"

"Sounds about right," replied Kaldar. After the conversation, the two began to move about the mineshaft, collecting the wooden planks. While they were doing that, Riss stood off to the side, wondering about what they were about to craft.

After gathering some planks, the two returned to each other. "I have six wood planks. You?" asked Kaldar.

"I have three wood planks,"answered Treka, "We have enough to make what we need. Go ahead and make the crafting table while I make the sticks." Kaldar took four of the planks and arranged them into a two-by-two block. After that was sorted the blocks formed themselves into a crafting table. In the meantime, Treka put two of the planks side-by-side, forming about four sticks.

"You remember the recipe for a pickaxe?" asked Kaldar.

"Yea," replied Treka, "I think it was a stick in square eight, a stick in square five, and a plank in squares one, two, and three."

"Let's try that out." Treka placed down her sticks and a wooden plank onto their squares on the crafting table while Kaldar put down his two other wooden planks. Instantly, the formula combined into a wooden pickaxe – a starting tool for mining.

"I have no idea how you guys just did that," said Riss, "I guess being asleep for a decade has its downsides."

"Don't worry, you'll learn eventually," replied Treka, "Ready to begin mining?"

"Definitely," replied Kaldar.

Kaldar grabbed the pick from the table and began to dig up steps in the stone. As he dug away, cobblestone popped out of the stone he mined, which he didn't bother picking up. However, Treka picked the cobblestone up and put it in her backpack. She mentioned that it could be used for purposes later on in the journey, and Riss didn't bother to ask why.

A few seconds later, Kaldar dug up another block, and rather than revealing another block below, it revealed a long drop. Kaldar almost walked right off, but Treka managed to catch him.

"Are you that clumsy?" asked Treka.

"Uh... yes," replied Kaldar. Treka could only react with a facepalm. In the meantime, Kaldar dug a step to the side and began digging up steps perpendicular to the ravine again. While Treka followed behind Kaldar to collect the cobblestone, Riss was in the back of the digging train, acting like he knew what Kaldar and Treka were doing (although he didn't).

A few minutes later, the group finally hit the bottom of the ravine. As soon as they stepped off from the steps, they noticed the exit of the ravine right away.

"We... we actually made it!" exclaimed Kaldar.

"Yea, but I sort of expected there to be lots of mobs down here..." replied Treka. The group continued towards the exit. However, when they were almost there, Riss noticed a figure in the shadows. Before he had time to alert Kaldar and Treka, the figure leaped down from his ledge in the shadows and landed perfectly (and almost intimidatingly) right in front of the group.

The figure that stood in front of them seemed to be a very tall man composed of iron. He had a large nose and arms that seemed to be built just for destroying obstacles that made the foolish choice of standing in its way.

"What is he?' asked Riss.

"I think he's an iron golem," replied Kaldar, "and if I'm correct, they're friendly! Maybe he can help us!"

"I don't know..." said Riss, "Something doesn't seem right with this one..." Riss could literally feel a strange presence coming from the golem, almost as if the golem was being controlled by another figure. Finally, his senses snapped.

"Watch out!" shouted Riss. The three jumped away from the golem quickly just before it could smash its arms on them.

"I don't get it!" shouted Treka, "I thought they were supposed to be friendly as well!"

"I think this one is possessed!" replied Riss, "We'll just have to fight it off!" Just as they agreed, the golem came in for another smash. While the three dodged him, Treka got out her bow and quiver while Kaldar and Riss unsheathed their swords.

When Treka was equipped with her items, she quickly loaded an arrow onto her bow and sent it whistling towards the golem. The arrow landed in the golem's arm, and while the golem flinched for a second, the golem simply continued to charge with an arrow lodged in its left arm.

"Guess that eliminates arrows," pointed out Treka. The golem was beginning to charge towards her now, and Treka was as scared as she was then the Enderman charged towards her. However, just as the golem was about to smash Treka in, Kaldar swiftly moved in the way and blocked the crushing blow with his sword.

Kaldar felt the impact vibrate through his entire body like an extremely powerful earthquake. The golem was pressing down on the sword while Kaldar used the sword to push the golem's arm upwards. While Kaldar was keeping the golem busy, Treka rolled to the side and sent another arrow towards the side of the golem's left knee. It made its mark and the golem pulled back from Kaldar's sword immediately.

The golem began stumbling around, trying to regain its balance. When the golem finally managed to return to coordination, Riss came in from behind and smashed the hilt of his sword into the golem's head. The golem fell forwards and Riss landed on his feet behind the golem. As the golem laid on the ground, a dark substance oozed from his head and vaporized into the air.

"I believe he's not corrupted anymore," pointed out Riss.

"Do you think he lived?" asked Treka as she went to go retrieve her arrows from the golem's arm and knee.

"I think so," replied Riss, "The hilt to the head might have stunned him for a while, but he will recover. He'll probably find some iron in the ravine and use it to fix himself up."

"I think we should head outside now," said Kaldar, "We're almost to the Nether anyways."

Riss stood in positive disbelief concerning the current progress the group has made. The group was almost ready to travel down to the Nether in order to get some ingredients for the eyes of the ender the adventure was almost going too fast for Riss, but he accepted it. Eventually, the group left the mineshaft and arrived at Rellsta – the abandoned town.

**Author's Notes:**

Agh, sorry I haven't posted in a while (again). I have high school going on, so that's a major barrier. Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter up much faster than this one (I hope). Wish me luck.


	15. Chapter 14: The Abandoned Town

**Chapter 14: The Abandoned Town**

When the group exited the mineshaft, the skies were dark. Also, they were surrounded by buildings that reached from two to three stories tall, all of which had some form of wear or tear on it. Overall, the town seemed as if it fell and remained in a dormant position for a couple hundred years.

"That mineshaft wore me out," yawned Riss, "How about we camp out in one of those buildings for the rest of the night."

"Yea, but one of them could collapse at any moment," pointed out Kaldar.

"If they lasted this long, then they probably won't collapse right now," replied Treka. She proceeded to enter the building to the left while Kaldar and Riss followed.

The inside of the building gave the suggestion that it was once a restaurant. Tables and chairs were scattered around the building, a bar was built a small way into the restaurant, and broken glass bottles laid behind the bar.

"Nice decoration they have here," said Kaldar sarcastically. As the group began setting down their sleeping bags, Riss went over to Treka.

"About what Amarisa said..." started Riss.

"Not until we manage to rescue her," replied Treka.

"Really? Not even just a tiny hint at what she said?" asked Riss.

"Nope," answered Treka, "But since there's only about two hours of darkness left, I'll take watch/" When Kaldar and Riss settled into their sleeping bags, they looked up at the ceiling. It has been a while since they slept under a roof. It probably wasn't a quality roof, but at least it was a roof. Eventually, Riss dozed off into a deep sleep.

Riss found himself in the clouds again. He figured that every time he dreamed about the clouds, he would be contacted by the voice. Turns out, his prediction was right. Once he figured the pattern out, he heard the voice within the clouds.

"Hello again, Riss," said the divine female voice.

"Hey," said Riss, "What do we need to talk about now?"

"Do you remember the task that was assigned to you before you went in the mineshaft?"

Riss had to think for a few moments before replying. "Was it the one where I had to get the sword?"

"That's the task. Plus, I have more information for you. The sword is located in a grove in the village."

"Where is it?"

"The entrance is in the back of the restaurant you are sleeping in tonight. Furthermore, only you can go in; your friends have to stay outside while you retrieve the sword."

"Okay- wait, why do they have to wait for me?"

"I don't control who gets to go in the grove and who doesn't get to go in there, but the Developers have created a barrier around the grove in order to keep non-spiritual beings outside of it. I'm pretty sure it doesn't really matter, only you and people who live within Mount Mojang would be able to access the grove. Plus, I don't see why anybody on Mount Mojang would bother to come down here anyways."

"Okay, anything else I need to know?"

"There will be two sacred guardians inside of the grove. They will check your DNA as an extra security measure. If you truly are a spiritual being, they will let you in."

"Alright, thanks for the heads-up. After running into the golem in the mineshaft, I'm not sure another artificial life form would be very welcoming in my eyes..."

"Oh, and don't worry about the golem's safety. As we speak, the golem is waking up and will eventually be back on his feet. Plus, if the Developers were right, the Enderking corrupted the golem, but the golem should no longer be corrupted."

"Anything else?"

"That's pretty much it. It's almost time to wake up. Once you wake up, head straight towards the grove and collect the sword."

"Thanks."

When Riss woke up, he saw that Kaldar and Treka were already packed up and ready to go while he was still buried in his sleeping bag.

"You had us worried," said Treka, "We thought you were going to sleep for another ten years!"

"Yea," said Riss, "But before we do anything else, I need to head someplace." Riss got up and began rolling up his sleeping bag.

"Where are you going to?" asked Kaldar.

"I need to head to a grove. The entrance to it should be in the back of this restaurant."

"Okay, but we're coming with you," said Treka, "There might be more Endermen or some other mobs in that grove."

"No, I need to head in alone," mentioned Riss, "Besides, neither you two or the Endermen could probably get into the grove."

"But why?" asked Kaldar.

"It's a long story," replied Riss, "It involves me getting a new sword. I'll tell you the details when I return."

"Okay, but be careful," said Treka.

"And don't leave us hanging too long," mentioned Kaldar, "I can get bored easily..." After Riss reached into his backpack and grabbed some food to eat, he went into the back of the restaurant, ready to go into the grove.


	16. Chapter 15: The Sacred Sword

**Chapter 15: The Sacred Sword**

As Riss went to the back of the restaurant, he noticed a door that led outside. However, he noticed something about the door that made it distinct from the rest of the building. The wood on the door seemed to be more well-polished and less run-down than the surrounding wood.

_This must be it, _Riss thought to himself. When he reached for the handle, he noticed that it felt a lot cleaner than most of the wood in the area. When he opened the door, he couldn't believe his eyes.

A large and well-kept garden was on the other side of the door with flowers ranging across the entire color spectrum. Plus, the great amount of greenery was welcoming in the arid ecosystem the town was settled in. Plus, a stone path twirled throughout the area. The view seemed too good to be true, almost like the image was being projected onto a screen behind the door. _This must be the grove, _thought Riss as he looked at the garden.

When Riss took a step in, he felt like he was warped to another part of the world – maybe even another world itself. The smell was a lot fresher than that of the run-down town. Finally, Riss concluded that he had stepped into another world – a world he liked.

Riss began following the stone path through the grove. It twisted and turned through the flowers and bushes, and when the path stopped, it came to a small opening in the grove. In the opening, he saw an entrance to another part of the path. However, it was guarded by two stone figures with their swords crossed at the entrance.

"Uh... hello?" said Riss blankly towards the figures. The figures made no movement. "Anybody home?" No movement again. Just as Riss turned around, he realized that those were the guardians that the divine voice had talked about.

As Riss turned back around, the guardians' eyes turned yellow. Their eyes shot a yellow beam of light towards the bottom of Riss's feet. After that, the beams scanned Riss's entire body at a slow pace that took about ten seconds to complete. Once the process was done, the stone guardians' eyes turned empty again.

_That was... interesting..._ thought Riss. He began to wonder what would happen next. However, just as he began pondering, both of the guardians' eyes began gleaming green. As they sparkled in the a green color, their swords lifted away from the entrance to the next path and returned to their sides.

"Welcome, chosen hero of Mojang," said both of the guardians in a deep unison, "You are permitted to enter the deep grove."

"Thanks," replied Riss. The guardians did not reply back. Riss went through the entrance that was opened by the guardians.

Rather than twisting and turning, the path Riss was on now went straightforward. Plus, it was shorter than the path that led to the guardians. When Riss arrived at the end of the path, he found that the exit was covered by leaves.

_This must be it,_ thought Riss as he approached the leaves. Once he pushed them aside, he came upon an even more massive opening than the one seen at the guardians. The opening was circular with trees surrounding the edges. In the center of the opening was a single chest with the insignia of the developers inscribed on it – which Riss interpreted as a dragon with a candle light coming out of it.

Riss slowly and cautiously walked over to the chest. Once he arrived at the chest, he undid the latch and opened the chest carefully. Riss flinched at first, worried about what would happen, but when he realized that nothing happened, he looked into the chest.

The chest contained a sword that was literally gleaming and emitting light. Its color was of the purest white, and its presence made a diamond sword look like a play sword children would use with their festive costumes.

Riss slowly reached into the chest and wrapped his hands around the hilt of the sword. Instantly, Riss felt every single sense in his body heighten. Plus, the sword made him feel many times more alert than before he picked up the sword. Riss almost felt like a new man.

As he picked up the sword from the chest, he realized that it felt better in his hands than the iron sword he wielded previously in the adventure. He could easily swing it around along with the safety of its power. As he stopped swinging the sword, he even noticed a scabbard inside of the chest. He put the old scabbard and its sword on the ground and put the new scabbard on his back. Also, he placed the new sword inside its scabbard. It felt better on his back than the previous sword.

"Welcome, Riss," said a voice inside Riss's mind.

"Wha...?" asked Riss, "Who's there?"

"I am the spirit of the sword. Also, I was the spirit who came into your sacred dreams. Before you return to your friends, there is a story that you must hear."

"Okay..."

"Let's start with the reason why you were put to sleep. When you were six years old, the Enderking and his forces attacked Mount Mojang. The area has never experienced a battle so fierce ever since..."

"Ever since what?"

"I will tell you later in your adventure. However, this battle was of a great scale. The Endermen and the soldiers of Mojang were almost equally powered – each side suffered great losses. However, while the battle was happening outside, another even was going on within the castle of the Developers."

"What was going on?"

"Do you know about Notch?"

"Yes. He is the leader of the developers – the base for all human-like figures that came after him."

"Indeed. While the battle was going on, Notch was facing a duel of his own. I believe that you can guess who his opponent was."

"The Enderking?"

"You guessed correctly. At the end of the duel, the Enderking pinned Notch against the wall above his throne. Rather than sending his sword through him, a chamber began forming around him. It was a chamber of constantly moving characters – a chamber of code. Plus, only the sword you have right now can shatter that chamber."

"Okay, but what about how I went to sleep for ten years?"

"Ah, I still need to answer that. The moment before Notch became frozen in code, he gave a mission to me. He told me to make sure you were protected until you came of age. If you remained in Harlock, the Enderking would have taken you with Amarisa. That's why the temple was formed – to keep you safe from the Enderking.

"It all makes sense now... any other things you need to tell me?"

"Other than the fact that you are the only one who can stop the Enderking, which I assumed you already knew, there is nothing else that needs to be revealed at the moment. You can return to your friends."

"Thanks." Riss turned back around and began walking to the exit of the opening, ready to return back to the run-down restaurant in the abandoned town.


	17. Chapter 16: Warp to the Past

**Chapter 16: Warp to the Past**

When Riss came back through the door that led to the restaurant, he came across Kaldar and Treka in the middle of a rock-paper-scissors match.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" said both Treka and Kaldar. Treka's hand became flat while Kaldar's hand formed into a fist. Kaldar grunted while Treka smiled, put her hand over Kaldar's fist, and brought it back to her side.

"Forty-five to twenty-one!" exclaimed Treka.

"It just doesn't seem logical," said Kaldar, "I can see scissors beating paper and rock beating scissors, but why does paper beat rock?"

"Because I used the paper."

"So... the paper was blessed with your 'Almighty Power of Treka', eh?"

"Pretty much." Just as they were about to start another game, they saw Riss walk in.

"I see you kept yourselves busy while I was out?" asked Riss.

"That's right," replied Kaldar.

"Ah," said Riss, "Before we leave, I got a new sword. Want to see it?"

"Sure," replied Treka. After that, Riss unsheathed his gleaming white sword. It seemed to add extra lighting to the room, and Treka and Kaldar stood in awe.

"Whoa," said Kaldar, "Where did you get that sword from?"

"I have no idea," answered Riss, "But it's supposed to be sacred or something like that."

"Can I hold it for a sec, just to get a feel of what it is like?"

"Sure." Riss reached out to give the sword to Kaldar, but when Kaldar touched the hilt, he flinched and whispered "Ow."

"Is there a problem?" asked Riss.

"Yea... how can you hold that sword without hurting your hand like that?" Just as Kaldar asked that, the spirit sent Riss a mental message again. _Oh yea, I forgot to mention that only sacred beings can wield the sword. It probably would've done more damage to his hand, but I was able to make an exception._

"The spirit... person... woman in the sword told me that only sacred beings can wield it," replied Riss.

"Ah," said Treka, "But we should get going now. That Nether portal isn't going to find itself." After making sure they collected all of their belongings, the group exited the abandoned restaurant and began heading deeper into town.

As the group ventured further into the abandoned town, they noticed that the restaurant was not the only run-down building in the area. Many of the buildings seemed to have age on them, with quite a few blocks missing from their structure and vines running up their walls.

"You think the townspeople left anything behind?" asked Kaldar.

"I doubt it," replied Riss, "This town doesn't look like it's been used in years. The looters have probably already stopped by to grab what they can."

"Okay, but how do you think the town was wiped out?" said Kaldar.

"I don't really know," replied Treka, "Anything could have happened. Some reasons could be, well, I don't know... mob invasion, enemy attack, maybe even some sort of food shortage wiped them out."

"Maybe," said Riss. The group continued to walk down the aged streets of the town. As they walked, they began to compare the town to a post-apocalyptic area – everything in the region is run-down, plant life has begun to take over, and there is no trace of recent human activity anywhere.

Eventually, after several minutes of walking, the group arrived at what appeared to be the town square. A small park about a block large and with tall grass laid before the group. Also, a distinctive feature about the square is that it had an obsidian frame with vines running down it.

"Is that the Nether portal?" asked Kaldar.

"Looks like it," replied Riss, "But it seems to be inactive and that it hasn't been activated since this town was abandoned."

"Wait, look," said Kaldar while looking at the ground. He picked up a moderately thick book with dust on it from the grass. After wiping the dust off the cover, he read the title. read the title. The title was "Nether Portal Operation Manual."

"Hand it to me," said Treka. Kaldar handed the book to her and she opened it to the table of contents. "Let's see... hmm... aha! Nether Portal Activation. Page 143." She flipped through the pages until it landed on the page of desire. "Let's see... a Nether Portal can be activated by setting any piece of the inner portal frame on fire. Doing so will cause the portal to fill with a purple substance, and stepping through the substance will allow you to travel to the Nether. Though there are some alternative methods to create fire, the most conventional way is to use flint and steel."

"Yea, but we have one problem," stated Riss, "We have no flint and steel." As Treka began explaining some of the possibilities to get flint and steel (which included going back into the mineshaft), Kaldar zoned out, obviously not focused. However, Riss noticed some slight ridges in the vines that covered the obsidian. He became curious about what was behind it and began ripping away at the vines.

"And then we could search through gravel until... wait, are you guys even paying attention to me?" asked Treka when she noticed that neither Riss or Kaldar were paying attention. However, when Treka looked at what Riss had uncovered, her mouth dropped down.

"Is that... a time transporter?" asked Treka. When Riss looked at the results, he noticed that he had uncovered a button with a sign above it that said "Press to travel 400 years into the past."

"Whoa..." said Kaldar in awe, "It sort of reminds me of a story I once read. This guy dressed in green used crystals to travel deep into the past or something like that."

"Should we press it and see what happens?" asked Riss.

"I don't know," replied Treka, "There could be a redstone trap-"

"Oh, for the love of diamonds, just press the button!" exclaimed Kaldar. Before Treka or Riss could reply, Kaldar smashed his hand on the button. When he pressed the button, Kaldar faded away from the area.

"Kaldar!" exclaimed Treka. Nobody replied. Nothing but the wind roaring across the town could be heard. Just as tears began to form up at Treka's eyes, Kaldar's body faded back in at the front of the button.

"Wait... what?" asked Treka.

"I didn't fade away," stated Kaldar, "I got taken back into the past! It was awe- wait... are you crying?"

"No, it's because- well- ugh..." replied Treka, "Let's just get into the past. Maybe we could find something useful there." She pressed the button and faded away from the abandoned town.

"See you on the other side," said Kaldar as he pressed the button and vanished from the area. Finally, it was Riss's turn to go back into the past._ Here goes nothing, _he thought before pressing the button. After taking a small gulp, he pressed the button.

As Riss pressed the button, he saw his surroundings fade away into oblivion. However, new surroundings were fading into his vision. He saw much better maintained versions of the buildings he saw in the abandoned town. However, the most significant feature of the new town was that there were people. And lots of them.

**Author's Notes:**

Well, here is the sixteenth chapter! Could any of you see the Skyward Sword reference Kaldar made within the chapter? If you have played it, then you could probably point it out pretty easily. The next chapter will be up soon!


	18. Chapter 17: Working Warriors

**Chapter 17: Working Warriors**

When Riss's surroundings were clearly defined, he found out that he was stand next to Treka and Kaldar again. Also, he noticed that Treka and Kaldar were not the only two people in the area anymore. There were lots of people in the town right now.

When the group warped back into the past, the town lost its quality of "Abandoned" - the buildings were well-kept, the grass of town square was trimmed, and people roamed the streets while minding their own business.

"This must have been the town when it was active," stated Kaldar. People were heading in and out of various buildings, and teenagers were hanging around the general area of town square. However, as the group examined town square, they noticed something – the portal wasn't activated.

"Why isn't the portal activated?" asked Riss. Just as he asked at, a janitor appeared behind them.

"You must be some of the folk from that village of... uh... Vesuvius, eh?" asked the janitor. Treka had a slightly confused look on her face. In the present, Vesuvius was a city that was friends with Harlock. Also, it was suggested that it was the biggest on the continent – maybe even the world.

"Uh... yeah!" replied Kaldar, "We're from Vesuvius! Just doing some shopping here in the city." Riss had a puzzled expression on his face, but Kaldar slightly nudged him and whispered "Play along."

"Also, we were wondering why the portal is down," stated Riss, "We don't really get news in the village."

"Ah, let me bring you up to speed," said the janitor, "A few years ago, the mayor of the town shut off the portal and made it illegal to reactivate it. He said something about there being a new evil rising in the Nether, and the town heeded his warning."

"Thanks," replied Riss. As the janitor turned around, Riss suddenly remembered something else to talk about. "Say, where can we find some flint and steel?"

"Some flint and steel?" replied the janitor, "Uh... I think that can be found at the Ingot Mart, just down sapling street. Can't miss it."

"Thanks for the directions," said Kaldar. The group began walking past town square and walked onto the stone streets, looking for the shop.

The streets were clogged with people proceeding at different speeds. Some were walking casually with light clothes on while others were almost running in order to get where they needed to be. Also, there were various booths set up on the side of the streets with vendors attempting to sell their products to people walking down the street.

Eventually, after a minute or two of walking, the group finally came across a sign that said "The Ingot Mart – The #1 stop for ingots, ingot items, and everything in between."

"I guess that's it," said Riss. The group tried to cut through the crowd as they approached the shops. Finally, they managed to make it inside the wooden door of the ingot mart in one piece.

"Hello!" shouted the shop's owner from behind his desk.

"Hey," replied Riss. As the group looked around, they noticed that various ingots lined the shelves in the store – iron ingots, gold ingots, even a few ingots that the group did not recognize. Also, various tools laid on the shelves – pickaxes, shovels, swords, shears, buckets, and even flint and steel! Riss went to grab the flint and steel and placed it on the owner's desk while the other two followed.

"One flint and steel, eh? That will cost about three rellstanians," stated the shop owner.

"Uh... we sort of don't... uh," mumbled Riss, "Can we trade some potions for the flint and steel?"

"Sorry, I only accept ingot and unused ingot tool trades."

"Ah. Well, is there a potion vender here in town?"

"There is, but I'm not sure that he accepts-" The shop owner's phrase was interrupted when he looked outside and took a small jump. "Quick, get into the closet." The group noticed behind them and noticed a small break in the crowd, and traveling through that break was a group of three male young adults that dressed completely in black and moved with an intimidatingly confident expression.

The group quickly noticed the closet to their right and hurried into it. The closet was a dark room just barely big enough to hold the three of them. As they peered out the small window the door offered, they saw the three men walk into the shop and directly confront the shop owner.

"Good day, Mr. Alpha," said the tallest of the three men who appeared to be their leader. Since Riss was closest to the door of the closet, he could hear the gang and the shop owner talk. "I presume you have our deposit ready?"

"But... you weren't going to pick up my deposit until the twenty-third," replied Mr. Alpha, shaking with fear, "So the deposit is not... um..."

"Not what, Mr. Alpha?"

"Not... ready."

"Okay then. Well, our organization is running low on funds, and if you are not unable to provide us with what we need at this moment, we will have to resort to another method of getting what we need..." The two men that flanked the leader began gathering up the items racked on the shelves into one pile while Mr. Alpha watched.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Mr. Alpha.

"Since you can't provide the cash for us to proceed, we will take your less-than-adequate inventory and use it to provide our needs," replied the leader of the small gang. A few moments later, the other two men reported back to the leader's side. In the end, there was a massive pile of ingots and tools at the door, and only the flint and steel on Mr. Alpha's desk seemed to not have been affected by the pile.

Riss recognized that the gang was dangerous, but he realized that he was not helping by hiding in a closet. He was the hero, and it was his duty to protect people from evil. Clenching his fist, he busted the closet door open, and shocked expressions from Kaldar's and Treka's faces could be seen before Riss closed the closet door behind him. While Mr. Alpha attempted to signal Riss back into the closet, the leader of the group flipped his long hair to the side and went to Riss.

"Hello, what kind of brave child do we have here?" asked the leader.

"I'm R- err, Azward," said Riss while trying to protect his identity, "And I'm here to-" Riss was cut off by an obviously fake yawn from the leader.

"Cool story bro," said the leader sarcastically with his other two men chuckling, "But seriously, this is private business, and I strongly suggest that you get out of here right now before things get nasty."

"You want things to get nasty, eh?" Riss unsheathed his sword and got in a stance for battle. The gang snickered then laughed at the action Riss took.

"His toy sword even has a glow feature!" shouted the man to the leader's right. Once he said that, the gang began laughing even harder. After the gang calmed down, the leader began speaking again.

"But seriously. If you want a challenge, so be it," stated the leader. When he snapped, he and the other two group members unsheathed their iron swords.

"Your move," said Riss. The man to the leader's left took the first swing from above. However, Riss dodged it, and as the man brought the sword to his right for another swing, Riss was able to intercept it with his own sword and send it flying randomly to the left.

After the man to the left was disarmed, the man to the right took his turn. He came in for a swing from the left, and Riss was easily able to block his sword. However, the man began applying pressure to his sword as it was locked with Riss's sword. However, as Riss was preventing the man from outmatching him, he had an idea. Riss quickly stepped back and let the pressure in the man's arm release. However, as he released it, he clumsily tossed his sword towards the back in the process, barely missing the pile of tools the gang has assembled.

When the leader finished with watching his two other men be disarmed, he became enraged. "You may be able to get away with my two other men, but don't think you can get past me!" shouted the leader. He came for a swing from below, but Riss was able to dodge it. However, Riss also found out that he was being backed into the wall. As the leader brought his sword back to his side, Riss thrusted his sword at the leader. The leader was able to jump back and dodge it, but he jumped back rather far, allowing Riss to get back in the zone.

The pattern of the duel continued for about a minute – the leader would slash wildly, Riss would take a small dodge, Riss skillfully slashed at the leader, but the leader managed to dodge each slash, getting closer to the wall with each step. Eventually, when the leader was almost at the wall near a corner of the store close to the street, Riss managed to outsmart the leader. When the leader attempted another dodge, he was backed against the wall – cornered with every single disadvantage.

"You got me man..." confessed the leader while panting and dropping the sword to his ground.

"Why don't you and your cronies leave and, well, never come back again?" asked Riss. When Riss looked out the window of the shop, he noticed that a crowd had gathered near the Ingot Mart, cheering for the fact that the gang had been beaten. The leader scurried behind Riss and ran for the door while his other men followed behind him. He didn't know what would happen with them in the middle of a crowd against them, but he knew that they deserved it.

"I... I don't know how to offer my gratitude," said Mr. Alpha while still shaking, "They were going to ruin my business... H- here, you can have the flint and steel for free. And you can get fifty percent off-"

"Thanks," replied Riss, "But we only need the flint and steel." While Treka and Kaldar came out of the closet, Mr. Alpha slid the flint and steel across his desk while Riss grabbed it. After nodding at the owner, Riss left with the group, ready to endure the massive crowd.

When Riss got outside, the crowd formed an opening for Riss and the group. As they traveled through it, heading for town hall, they got lots of attention.

"Sir, what's your name?" asked a man that seemed to be from a press agency within the town.

"My name is R- uh... I mean Azward." As the fake name passed through the crowd, Riss heard a very distinct fangirl shout "I love you Azward!" from the crowd. Riss's face turned hot red.

When the group arrived at town square, they got close to the button in town square that took them back to the present. They had just barely enough space to hear themselves.

"Ready to lose all your fangirls, Azward?" asked Treka.

"Eh," replied Riss, "World first, fangirls later." After saying that, Riss pressed the button and watched as the lively and well-kept town turned back into the quiet and abandoned town of the present.

**Author's Notes:**

Hey there! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave some feedback in a review if you want to. This chapter was a slightly long one, but I hope that you feel that this is a good chapter. Chapter 18 will be going up soon, and in that chapter, Riss and the group travels to the Nether. (Finally!)


	19. Chapter 18: The Nether

**Chapter 18: The Nether**

The group has returned to the present. However, when they returned, they noticed that there was a new feature in the town park. When they looked behind them, they noticed a rusted statue that seemed to resemble Riss.

A bronze plaque below the statue displayed some text. "Azward – Savior of Rellsta," said Treka while reading the text below the sign, "Guess somebody became a hero."

"That sword-fighting skill in that shop was really cool, Riss!" complimented Kaldar, "But how did you get so good?"

"I don't really know," answered Riss, "It was almost like the sword gave me new power. Pretty weird."

"Well, since we have the flint and steel now and since there's no town authority to stop us, I guess we can activate the portal now!" exclaimed Treka. Riss handed her the flint and steel and she struck the inner frame of the portal with it. The moment the flint and steel touched the inner frame, the frame was filled with a purple substance emitting a bright light.

"You guys ready?" asked Riss. Both Kaldar and Treka nodded. After they confirmed that they were ready, they walked into the purple substance in the portal, taking them to the Nether.

When the group arrived on the other side, they noticed the first difference between the overworld and the Nether – a significant temperature increase. While the overworld was lukewarm that day, the Nether felt like a sauna. Also, they noticed that they were at the tip of a town literally inside of a cave. A red rock called netherrack made up for both the floor and the roof of the cave while the town was made of dark red bricks called Nether bricks.

"Well, guess this is the Nether," pointed out Kaldar. When they continued to look in front of them, they saw Nether brick stairs descending into the rest of the town. Also, waiting at the bottom of those stairs was a man with gray skin and a dark red robe.

"It has been a while since humans have used the portal," said the man with hints of age in his voice. The man signaled for the group to come down with him.

"Hello," introduced Riss, "Where can we find blaze rods in the Nether?"

"Blaze rods?" replied the man with some shock in his voice, "Those Blazes will make a rod out of you before you can even touch them!"'

"Pardon?" asked Riss.

"Oh, you humans probably don't know what happened," said the man, "Follow me." The group began following behind the man through the town in the Nether. "A few hundred years ago, a wicked dynasty of Blazes seized the throne for themselves. We tried to enlist human help, but they closed the portal before we managed to send the distress signal." Riss suddenly realized that the "Evil rising" the janitor of the past mentioned was the Blazes taking over the throne.

"Is the dynasty still around today?" asked Riss.

"Oh yes," replied the man, "And the dynasty is stronger than it ever was. A new king was given the throne not too long ago, and while he is the most wicked of all the Blaze Kings, he is the most clever. The Blazes have gained more territory this year than the past twenty years."

"How come this town still lies unaffected by the Blazes?" asked Treka.

"The blazes felt that the portal would be reactivated and the humans would try to stop them, so they left our town alone. However, you three are the first humans to come since the Blazes took over, and we hope you can be the ones to stop them." The man pointed to Riss. "I presume that he is the chosen hero of Mojang?"

"Wha... how did you know?" asked Riss with surprise in his voice.

"Oh, I don't really know... I think it's because you just told me." Riss tried to get words out but could only manage to facepalm himself. "You see, we were hoping somebody would come to stop the Blazes, and you might just be our person. Also, the Blazes may be affiliated with the Enderking, so the current Blaze King has a massive horde of ender pearls. However, I'm curious about if that will help you." Riss managed to smile when the man said that. "Also, if you're wondering, we're the Netherborn. We're the oldest species exclusive to the Nether. After us come the Zombie Pigmen, then come the Ghasts, and then the Blazes."

"Okay, but where is the Blaze King's fortress?" asked Kaldar.

"Oh, the fortress? It's directly outside of this town, and it is, in human terms, a half-day walk. Excluding some of the obstacles you might come across of course." While walking, Riss looked at some of the buildings in the town. They were made of Nether bricks as well with dark-colored glass for windows. Most of them had two floors, but some of them only had one floor.

"Thanks for the info," said Kaldar, "And can we stay here overnight?"

"Ah, the Nether has no day and night. However, you are welcome to stay in the guest building for a while. Follow me." When the next intersection came, the Netherborn took a right turn while the rest of the group followed. They walked down the Nether brick street until they came across a one-story building.

"Normally, staying here would cost something," explained the Netherborn, "But since you're the hero, your stay is on the house- err... town today."

"Thanks," said Riss. The group walked up the Nether brick stairs into the house.

"It's nice to be able to sleep in actual beds again," cheered Kaldar. When the group entered the house, they realized that the house had three bedrooms (a master bedroom and two side bedrooms) and two bathrooms (a master bathroom and a side bathroom) along with a nicely-sized living room and kitchen. Riss and Treka were also glad that they were finally able to relax during a long adventure.

"I call master bedroom!" exclaimed Treka. She then hurried over to a door located on the right side of the living room wall.

"That leaves a bedroom with a window and a bedroom close to the other bathroom. What's your pick?" asked Kaldar.

"I think I'll take the window bedroom," answered Riss. Kaldar grinned in victory and scurried to a door on the left wall close to another door. After that, Riss began walking to a door on the far side of the left wall.

When Riss entered his bedroom, he looked out the window and realized it had a great view. A small hole in the cave the town was located at revealed a massive lava lake surrounded by beaches of what seemed to be made of brown sand. Riss didn't know what was in that sand and thought he was better off not knowing.

Riss found a bed next to the window and laid down on it. His body was welcomed by the comfort of a soft bed rather than a hard ground with nothing more than a sleeping bag to cushion it. He eventually became comfortable enough to take off his boots and set it down on the ground near his bed.

When he looked out towards the lake through the window, his mind pondered over how far he has come and how far he has to go. Through the pondering, he concluded that he was half-way there. Once he obtained the blaze rods and ender pearls, he could figure out how to make the eyes of the ender and find the End.

After even more pondering, he realized that once the Enderking was gone, the world may be safe. However, the word "may" rung through his head a few times. What if there was something after the Enderking? Thoughts like that processed through his head, and he thought about it to where he didn't realize that he dozed off while thinking about it.

"Hey Riss, wake up!" exclaimed Kaldar, snapping Riss awake.

"Huh... wha?" mumbled Riss with confusion in his voice. He rose from his bed to realize that Kaldar and Treka were standing in front of his bed.

"You dozed off," replied Treka, "You might be a hero but you're a sleepyhead as well."

"What time is it?" asked Riss.

"Only a few hours after we came into the house," replied Kaldar, "While you were asleep, I went walking around town while Treka almost burned herself."

"How was I supposed to know that they piped in lava instead of water?" shouted Treka.

"I guess the Netherborn people take lava showers," answered Kaldar, "But at least toilets don't get clogged down here! Since the water is replaced with lava, the-"

"Too much information!" interrupted Riss, "So, should we start heading out?"

"I guess so," answered Treka. They stepped back while Riss slipped his boots on and grabbed his backpack. After that, they exited Riss's room, turned right, and went through the door that led to the town.

When they went outside, they noticed that the Netherborn man that led them through town was waiting for them.

"I presume you had a good rest?" asked the Netherborn.

"Definitely," replied Riss, "So, where is the fortress?"

"The exit of the town is towards your left, and it is straight-forward for about a half-day. You should make it there and have plenty of energy to defeat the Blaze King."

"Thanks." Once they received the directions they turned left and began heading out of town while the Netherborn started heading back through town.

**Author's Notes:**

Hi! Well, this is chapter 18 (You probably already knew that), and you got to see the group go into the Nether. Please leave a review if you want to, and hopefully you like how the story's going so far! (But if you don't, that's okay, just put it in a review.)


	20. Chapter 19: Traveling to the Fortress

**Chapter 19: Traveling to the Fortress**

The trip to the Nether fortress started out rather smoothly. The ground composed of netherrack was relatively flat, but the grueling heat caused the trip to go a tad bit slower than it would have if the temperature was ideal. Other than the temperature, the group almost felt that the trip will go more smoothly than they predicted.

"The Nether seems like a nice place to visit," mentioned Kaldar, "But I definitely would not want to live here."

"Yea. Plus the pools don't seem that bad here," replied Riss, "But there's one problem – it vaporizes anything it touches." The group continued to walk down the path they were told to walk when they left the town in the Nether. But as they walked, they noticed what seemed to be a combination of a zombie and a pig out in the distance.

"What... is that?" asked Kaldar.

"I think it's a zombie pigman," replied Treka, "As long as you don't bother with them, they won't bother with you."

"Okay, so it seems like a bad idea to-" Kaldar was suddenly cut off when he almost fell off a cliff leading straight into a massive lava pool below.

"Are you seriously that clumsy?" asked Treka.

"Well, I think we should go around," suggested Riss while pointing at a trail to the right. The group agreed with him and began to travel around the lava pool.

For the next hour or two, the walk to the fortress went along rather boringly (With the exception of a lava pool every now and then.) In order to make the time go by more quickly, Kaldar and Treka decided to tell stories of their training. Kaldar decided to speak first.

"The story I'm about to tell you is awesome, Riss," said Kaldar, "So... uh... walk casually, relax, and listen carefully. One time, our training room went jogging into the forest at night. It wasn't fun to do so, but eventually, we got to relax. But as we were relaxing, I hear some footsteps from behind the group. I look behind me to see what was approaching, but I couldn't manage to make it out since it was too dark. However, all of us suddenly heard a hissing sound from behind, and time seemed to slow down. But in a split second, I manage to punch the creeper so hard, he flew back into the depths of the forest and passed out. As the group managed to realize what happened, they recognized me as their hero and the room sergeant allowed me to take the day off tomorrow. And since I got the day off, I got extra sleep."

Before Riss was able to comment on Kaldar's story, Treka bumped in. "You have a rather impressive story about helping your roommates, but I have an even more impressive story about counter-pranking my roommates. It's pretty funny if you ask me."

"Look out, we have a bad girl over here," said Kaldar sarcastically.

"Trust me, they were the bad girls first, just listen," replied Treka, "It all started during New Recruit 'Appreciation' Week at the Agent Training Facility. One night during that week, some of the upper-class agents decided to prank me. From what I know, they tried to take my bed with me asleep in it, but while I managed to wake up from the rustling, I acted like I was asleep. As they carried me, one decided to place a backpack full of snowballs on my bed – worst mistake she's ever made. In the end, they dragged me into a small room. But as they set me down and began to quietly discuss their plans, I managed to bring the bag to my side and open it. As they turned around, I swiftly jumped from my bed and pelted every upper-class agent with snowballs. After the attack, I ran – they tried to catch up to me, but I was too agile. Eventually, they decided to give up and returned to their beds. After they were soundly asleep, I returned to my bed as well."

"Wow... were you caught?" asked Riss.

"It rained last night, so everyone though that they went out into the rain."

The rest of the trip to the Nether Fortress went smoothly with Kaldar and Treka telling one story after another. (Riss didn't have many stories to tell – he was asleep for the past ten years!) But eventually, they came to a right turn.

"You know, it shouldn't be long before we arrive at the- uh..." Treka was stopped mid-speech as she stood in awe at the sight in the distance. Kaldar and Riss noticed it as well. There were many sprawling castle walls and spires in the distance composed of Nether bricks. The walls also overlooked a massive sea of lava.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Kaldar.

"Yea," replied Riss, "I think we found the Nether Fortress."

The group continued to travel closer to the fortress. As they walked, they couldn't stop staring at the massive scale of the fortress. The fortress was almost like the Nether's equivalent of the castle at Harlock. But as they walked, they could begin to make out yellow figures sprawled out on the walls.

"Wait," said Treka, "I think those are blazes. If they notice us... well... let's not discuss that."

"There's someplace to camp out," mentioned Riss while pointing to a small cove built into the ground. The group walked into the thin cove and sat themselves down. "So what's the plan?"

"I still have that pickaxe," pointed out Treka, "So we could bust through the Nether bricks, sneak up on the Blaze King, and dethrone him."

"Doesn't sound real bad," replied Kaldar, "But won't the Blazes notice us? He probably has a Blaze guarding every single position around him."

"True," noted Treka, "But perhaps we could generate a distraction, leaving the Blaze King completely vulnerable!"

"Hmm, not a bad idea," said Riss, "So, we have a plan?"

"I believe so," answered Treka, "First, we sneak past the guards on the top of the fort and break directly into the wall using the pickaxe we made. Second, we sneak through the halls, looking for something that might cause a distraction. After the Blaze King's guards have been dispatched, we go in for the kill. How does that sound?" Kaldar and Riss nodded and agreed with Treka's proposition. "Okay, how about you two get some rest? I'll take guard."

Realizing how tired they were, Kaldar and Riss slouched down and dazed off without knowing it. At the same time, Treka got out her bow and stepped out a slight bit out of the cove, making sure nothing bad would happen.

**Author's Note:**

Gah! Sorry that it has been a long time since I last published. I'll try to roll out the next chapter a lot quicker though! Now for some news concerning the series in general... (Note: Spoilers may follow, read at your own risk)

The next book in the series will be called _The Battle of the Aether_, and by looking at the title, you can probably guess where that book will be set. If everything turns out as imagined, this book will set the majority of the plot for the rest of the series.

Also, the series is planned to have four books. This is the first book, and the second is described in the paragraph above. In the third book, the stage will be set for the final battle with the main antagonist in the fourth book.

Well, thanks for reading so far, and be sure to read the next chapter which will (hopefully) come out soon!


	21. Chapter 20: Air Alarm

**Chapter 20: Air Alarm**

What was once going to be a quick snooze turned into a heavy sleep as Riss and Kaldar snored their rest time away. In the meantime, Treka was on the lookout, ensuring that they would not get caught and... well... who knows what else.

While on the lookout, Treka's stomach began to rumble. Upon rumbling, she began to daydream. A nice, warm, and delicious porkchop would be good for her and assist her in focusing on the task ahead, but she had to resist the temptation – anything could happen within the few seconds she would spend grabbing some food.

However, her stomach growled again. At this point, she surrendered to her body's needs and reached for her backpack, not taking her eyes off of the exit of the cave. She began shuffling through her backpack, looking for something to eat. After some searching, she finally came across a porkchop, ready to eat. She looked out at the exit of the cave again, ensuring that nobody would get the group while she was eating.

After assuring herself that the coast was clear, she stood up against a wall, made sure that her bow was within quick reach, and she began to munch on the porkchop. It felt good to be eating something after traveling for a while, the walking had emptied her stomach.

While eating, she heard a faint cry from the distance. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." echoed the cry. Treka quickly reached for the bow, loaded an arrow, and drew the bowstring back. She stood patiently, waiting for the unlucky soul to come down. After standing with her drawn bow for a short time, she finally realized that the noise may have been a part of her imagination. She set her bow down and continued to munch on the porkchop.

Just as she continued to eat, the cry ringed out again. "Eeeeeeeeeee..." vibrated the cry. However, the cry appeared to be nearing closer to the hideout. Treka followed the same routine – she quickly grabbed her bow, loaded an arrow, and pointed at the exit, waiting for the victim. Once again, there was nothing. She returned to eating her porkchop, standing close to the bow just in case something did happen.

Suddenly, she heard the cry shout out in a different manner. "ErrrrrrEEE!" echoed the massive shout. Treka grabbed her bow with haste and loaded an arrow, ready to attack. However, instead of getting hit from the entrance, a small rumble vibrated throughout the small cave they camped out in. Plus, she heard a small explosion go off in the distance.

Treka took a quick look back at Kaldar and Riss. They moved about a small amount, but for the most part, they remained asleep. At this point, Treka decided to remain at guard at all times, for the porkchop could wait. But as she decided this, the cry shouted out the same voice it did previously. Also, another rumble was felt, but this time, it was closer.

Finally, Treka decided to peek out and see what was going on. As she looked out the cave, she noticed something blocking her view of the fortress – a ghast, which was a massive, ghost-like figure ambling about near the roof of the Nether. However, there was something weird about this figure. It was heading straight toward Treka and the cove.

The ghast let out its attack cry again. However, a fireball came out of its mouth as it shouted. A second later, Treka decided to try something risky. She let loose an arrow toward the fireball. She cringed, expecting the fireball to explode when the arrow impacted with it. However, rather than exploding, it deflected the fireball back towards the ghast! The fireball landed directly in the ghast's face, exploding with great power. But as the fireball exploded, the ghast let out a cry more horrific than every single cry she has currently heard combined.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR!" screeched the ghast as it died. As it screamed, Treka covered up her ears, trying to reduce the noise. At the same time, Kaldar and Riss bolted awake, wondering what just happened.

"Did you just hear that?" asked Riss.

"Yea, I did," replied Kaldar, looking out the cove. While he was expecting to see Treka, he instead saw the unblocked exit of the cove. "Wait, where's Treka?"

"I thought she... was... just..." replied Riss as he looked in the direction Kaldar was looking. Without any further discussion, they jolted up quickly into a standing position, grabbed their swords, and ran up to the exit of the cove to see if Treka was there.

"Treka!" shouted Kaldar, "What happened?" As he asked that, he looked in the same direction Treka was looking – towards the fortress. All three of them managed to see multiple blazes look at them.

"Run." That was the only word Treka managed to squeeze out before the blazes began attacking them. The three of them began to dash for their lives away from the fortress. Luckily for the group, the blaze fireballs didn't explode. The group managed to cover a good distance of running before feeling nauseous for some reason other than exhaustion.

"Why do I feel like fainting?" shouted Riss as he ran.

"I bet those fireballs release toxic gas!" replied Treka, "Just keep running! All we have to do is turn at our left and we will be safe!" A wall made of natural netherrack separated the yard of the castle and the rest of the Nether. But as they ran, Kaldar began lagging behind, only to eventually collapse mid-run.

"KAL... dar..." shouted Treka as an attempt before collapsing herself. "Just... keep... running..." After she said that, she fainted, leaving Riss for himself. However, as he ran, he began to feel nauseous himself. He could feel his own speed decreasing, but he tried to continue towards the netherrack wall.

"Just... a few more... seconds..." gasped Riss to himself as he "ran." But as he tried to get closer to the netherrack wall, he began to seriously lag behind. Finally, Riss collapsed to the ground. As he laid down on the netherrack surface, just inches away from the wall, he felt himself going unconscious, curious about what his fate would be.

Minutes later, multiple blazes were investigating the yard. They had already picked up Kaldar's and Treka's unconscious bodies, but Riss's body interested them. Moments later, a much bigger blaze came in from behind, examining the body.

"I believe that is the hero's body," concluded one of the blazes, "What do you want us to do, your royal highness?"

"Throw him and his friends in the dungeon and put their belongings in the closet closest to the throne room for now," answered the larger blaze, "Also, send out a messenger for the Enderking. Tell him that I have what he wants."

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter may have been on the shorter side, but I managed to get it out a lot quicker. (Yay for me!) Anyways, keep on reading, and look out for the next chapter soon!


	22. Chapter 21: King of Fire

**Chapter 21: King of Fire**

Riss woke up in a confusing daze, almost as if his consciousness decided to skip several hours of his life. Turns out, it did, for he realized that he was not sleeping on the ground of a cove – he was sleeping on a bunk bed in a dungeon cellar. Riss attempted to take these few moments to recollect his memory concerning the past few moments.

He began with the moment he woke up after the loud screech. He remembered that he ran up to the top of the cove he camped out in and noticed that they were under attack. After that, he recalled that the group began running behind the cover of a natural formation between the fortress and the rest of the Nether. However, as they approached it, he got knocked out. Now, he found himself here. Also, he was disarmed.

As he looked around the cell, he noticed that there were two bunk beds. He was on top of the first one, Kaldar was sitting on the bottom of the same one, and Treka was sitting on the bottom of the second bunk bed. As he looked, he noticed that both of them were conscious and looking at him.

"Hey Riss!" exclaimed Kaldar while hopping off the bed, "Thank goodness you're awake!"

"You took on quite a bit of toxic for running that far," explained Treka, "We thought that you wouldn't wake up!"

"How long have we been in here?" asked Riss while sitting up in his bed.

"Well, I was the first to wake up," noted Kaldar, "And if we were tossed in here when I woke up, then I guesstimate... several hours. What do you think they're going to do to us?"

"They're probably going to dispose of Kaldar and I quickly," replied Treka, noticing Kaldar flinch, "But as for Riss... well, seeing how he's the hero, he'll probably be pretty valuable."

"The blazes will probably turn me into the Enderking as soon as they can," added Riss.

"If so, then why are you still here?" asked Kaldar.

"I don't know. Perhaps he'll give me a-" Riss was interrupted when the creaking of a blaze opening their cell door caused them to look around. Riss secured this chance to better examine the blaze.

The blaze had no noticeable lower body – just a cloud of smoke surrounded by several pillars of fire about the length of a human's arms. However, the blaze did have a head and two eyes, yet he had no mouth, making the three wonder how he was able to speak.

"The Blaze King wants your presence immediately," stated the blaze to Riss, "And he requested that you two should come along as well. I will escort you there." The group got up from their bunk beds and began to follow behind the blaze as he led them down the halls.

The Nether Fortress looked many times bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. Halls seemed to expand on for a long time and sometimes went underground. As they traveled down the halls, they noticed many things: blazes training for combat, small patches of netherrack growing, and other prison blocks holding various prisoners.

Eventually, the group came up to the end of a hallway. In front of them was a massive double-door composed of Nether bricks. The blaze signaled the three to step back as he took a deep "breath". Finally, he began shooting precise fireballs at various spots on the door – probably a code to enter the throne room. Once the code was entered, various fiery lines appeared on the massive door that connected each scorch mark with another. Eventually, the yellow lines formed a flame insignia, and when they disappeared, the massive double-door opened.

The group entered the throne room directly in the Blaze King's glare. He and his throne was directly in front of the group and was surrounded by several blaze guards. Also, to the side, the group could see their weapons stashed up near the throne. Unlike the other blazes, the Blaze King was almost a fiery human with legs, arms, a body, and a head with a facial expression. Also, as he spoke, his mouth moved in accordance with the words.

"Did you bring the prisoners?" asked the Blaze King slowly, deeply, and intimidatingly.

"Yes, your highness," replied the blaze with a slight trace of nervousness in his voice.

"Very good," responded the Blaze King in his deep voice. He then directed his attention towards Riss "So... after ten years of searching by many agents across the universe, the Chosen Hero of Mojang finally shows up in my throne room. How ironic. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

While Riss attempted to speak, no words could come out of his mouth. He could have easily confronted the Blaze King if he was armed. However, without his sword, he felt less powerful than the Blaze King. In fact, Riss almost felt entirely vulnerable.

"Ah... so without his weapon, the hero does not even have the muscle to speak to me..." pointed out the Blaze King.

"I- I can speak," replied Riss with a slight stutter.

"Alright, so you are able to speak," noticed the Blaze King, "So I guess we can start arranging your future... to my specifications, of course." The Blaze King then got up from his throne and began approaching the three inmates.

"Since you two are of no use to me," said the Blaze King while nodding to Kaldar and Treka, "I may execute you quickly and easily." he then moved over to Riss. "However, since you are the hero, I have special plans for you." Riss gulped as the Blaze King began pacing. "My master would reward me greatly for giving you to him. Try to take a wild guess at who he is."

"Uh..." stuttered Riss, "The Enderking?"

"Correct," replied the Blaze King, "And he has great interest in you. Here's what he could do to you..." The Blaze King then began going on through a massive list of what could happen to Riss when he was turned in. Riss managed to zone out of the Blaze King's talk, but as he was zoned out, he began to imagine if the sacred sword just flew into his hand so he could begin slashing down some Blazes. But as he thought that, he heard a gasp from the Blaze King as he felt his hand naturally warp around something that felt familiar.

Riss also didn't realize that he had his eyes closed. When he opened them, he noticed that he had the sacred sword in hand. He didn't know how he did it, but somehow, his daydream came true. He was ready to cut down some Blazes.

Naturally, the guarding Blazes slowly began to approach Riss in attempt to intimidate him. However, as they approached, Riss quickly began slashing at each Blaze, watching them turn into smoke as they were hit with the sword.

In a few quick moments, everything was chaotic. While Riss was busy massacring Blazes, Treka and Kaldar made an attempt to grab their items when the Blazes holding them down went to try to stop Riss. In the meantime, the Blaze King calmly returned to his throne while watching the carnage unfold.

When the Blaze King sat down, he waved his arm in the air once. The Blazes quickly snapped back into order and backed away. Once the Blazes backed away and the chaos decreased, the three realized that they formed a small triangle while fighting off the Blazes. But as the carnage went down, the Blazes formed a small alley leading to the Blaze King's throne. The Blaze King got up and began to approach Riss.

"Rather than settling this like wild beasts, let's settle this like true men," stated the Blaze King.

"Is that a challenge?" asked Riss.

"You can be certain that it is. We will have a duel between us – swords only, no outside interference, and to the death. If you win, you can claim control of the Nether."

"Wait, you're going to give up the entire Nether that easily?"

"I wouldn't be so confident. I have dueling skills known widely around the Nether. I doubt I would be giving up my kingdom today. Speaking of which, if you lose, I can hand over your corpse to my master. It will bet he final component in his plan for dominance. Do you agree to my terms?"

Riss looked back at Kaldar and Treka. At first, the two started to slightly shake their heads. However, Riss began to feel a slight breeze of confidence come over him. As his confidence appeared on his face, Treka and Kaldar's head shaking turned into slight nods with nervous smiles. Riss smiled back and turned to face the Blaze King with a serious and confident expression on his face.

"I agree to your terms."

"So it's settled." Treka, Kaldar, and the Blazes naturally stepped out of the way in order to clear some dueling space. Riss and the Blaze King took several steps back from each other with their eyes locked. Riss was beginning to wonder how the Blaze King was going to get his sword. However, as he thought of that, a long sword of fire materialized in his flaming hand. Once a good sword of fire appeared, the sword cooled into a sharp blade of burning stone.

The two duelers were ready for action. Time seemed to slow down in the room as the spectators wondered about who was going to make the first move. Finally, the Blaze King rose his sword and said "En Garde."

**Author's Notes:**

Gah, sorry for another long wait! With High School and many other distractions coming in, it's hard to roll out more chapters. However, while I'll try my best to get the next chapter in quicker, it may be a while due to a video game I have to develop by the first...


	23. Chapter 22: The Fiery Duel

**Chapter 22: The Fiery Duel**

The Blaze King started the duel by immediately charging towards Riss, almost catching him off-guard. He then proceeds to send in a barrage of slashes from the sword he forged from fire. However, as he sent each strike, Riss was able to block it with the knowledge gained from wielding the Sacred Sword. Despite being able to swiftly block each strike, each one was just barely blocked.

The Blaze King then jumped back and stopped barraging at Riss. "Pretty strong, aren't you?" said the Blaze King, "My oppressors are typically slain within the first five slashes from my sword. Guess I'm going to have to try something else... your turn to take the offensive."

Riss began to charge at the Blaze King with all his might. However, by the time he got there, the Blaze King disappeared into fire. His fire traveled several meters away from Riss. After traveling, the Blaze King rematerialized. Riss tried to charge at the Blaze King again. However, the Blaze King used the same exact strategy – he vanished into flames and reappeared several meters away.

The process happened several times over. By that point, Riss was beginning to pant. However, a voice intervened in his mind, warning him of the strategy the Blaze King was using.

"He's attempting to tire you out," warned the voice, "Once you're winded, he will have a complete advantage over you." The voice sounded like the one that greeted him in his dreams and the one that greeted him when he first obtained the Sacred Sword.

Riss nodded when he heard the warning. He simply stood still, keeping a sharp eye on the Blaze King and his movements. The Blaze King tried moving around multiple times, but Riss was not falling for his tricks.

"Planning to attack me anytime soon, Mister Hero?" asked the Blaze King in an attempt to taunt Riss.

"I know what you're up to," pointed out Riss.

"Is that so? In that case, I guess I'm taking the offensive again..." What happened next was that the Blaze King's sword melted into embers and fell onto the ground. At this point, Riss muttered in his head, _how is he going to fight now? _However, the Blaze King's "legs" disappeared. Also, what surprised Riss was that the Blaze King began floating!

When the Blaze King successfully secured the higher ground, he then began to summon fireballs from his "hands". As each fireball formed, it was shot straight at Riss.

Riss began dodging each fireball shot at him. While Riss was about to complain that the Blaze King was not following his own rules, he managed to convince himself that this was not the time to do so. Instead, he realized that the Blaze King was trying a different method to tire him out.

As each fireball was sent raging at Riss, he did his best to dodge them. However, as he dodged each one, he was becoming more tired. Eventually, his reflexes grew slow enough to be unable to dodge one fireball. Instead, Riss took a risky move – he swung his sword at the fireball.

Riss almost thought that this would be the end – the fireball would scorch his sword and charge straight into Riss, burning him to a crisp. However, the exact opposite happened – the sword reflected the fireball back at the Blaze King.

The reflected fireball hit the Blaze King in his right arm. The fireball caused the flame of his right hand to vanish since it was severed by the speed of the fireball. However, the Blaze King was easily able to grow a new right hand.

The Blaze King began floating around, attempting to shoot fireballs at Riss while dodging the reflected ones. Riss, now revitalized from his discovery, now was able to proficiently block or reflect each fireball shot at him. Also, as each fireball touched his sword, he noticed that the sword did not get any burn marks.

As the Blaze King floated in midair, Riss noticed that he would have to time his swing right and swing in the right direction to get the Blaze King. As the Blaze King shot a fireball, he tried this method. However, when the fireball was sent back, it missed the Blaze King by a couple feet.

As Riss reflected more fireballs, the distance between it and the Blaze King shrunk. The Blaze King responded to this new strategy by increasing the speed in which he moved around, forcing him to reduce the rate at which he shot fireballs. Despite his efforts, Riss was still able to almost accurately reflect the fireballs shot at him.

Eventually, the Blaze King made an attempt to shoot one more fireball. As it got to Riss, Riss confidently swung his sword, aiming for the Blaze King. When the fireball was reflected, it hit the Blaze King square in the lower stomach, causing him to fall back down to the floor. Riss rose his sword again, waiting for the Blaze King to rise.

"You really asked for it kid!" shouted the Blaze King. He then proceeded to repeat his first strategy – go for an all-out barrage. However, there was something different about this barrage. The first time, the Blaze King tried to incorporate quick-thinking and tactics. This time, Riss felt that this barrage was fueled by rage.

At one point, rather than swiftly going to slash again, the Blaze King locked swords with Riss during one of the strikes. By then, it was a struggle between two forces. The Blaze King pushed all he could to knock Riss back.

On Riss's side, he was having a slight struggle with pushing the Blaze King back. However, as he pushed on, the Blaze King's pushing effort let go, and Riss able to push the Blaze King back!

The Blaze King kept hold of his sword, and when he got up, he went back to slashing at Riss with even more rage. However, considering that Riss kept a cool head, he was able to swiftly block each attack.

Finally, after one strike, Riss quickly noticed an error in the Blaze King's attack – he waited too long to go from one slash to another. When this happened, he thought quickly, squatted down, and with a swift slash of his sword, he managed to slice the Blaze King's legs right off!

When the Blaze King's legs were cut off, the severed portions turned into embers and vanished. He screamed in agony to where he stumbled over and threw his own sword beyond reach in the process. Before the Blaze King could even consider regrowing his legs, Riss was already charging to land the final blow.

At that point, time seemed to slow down slightly. As Riss approached the vulnerable Blaze King, he threw a jump in his charge. During his jump, he noticed that the Blaze King had a bright core – the body part that was keeping him alive. When Riss was at the right spot during his jump, he brought his sword around to where it was facing directly down at the core. Finally, gravity took place, sending Riss's sword straight into the Blaze King's core.

The Blaze King unleashed one final blood-chilling scream as his life force vanished. When Riss drew his sword out of the Blaze King and bounced to the side of his corpse, the Blaze King evaporated into smoke, leaving several yellow rods behind.

When Riss turned around, he noticed that Treka and Kaldar were wide-eyed, pondering what they had just witnessed. For some reason, Riss almost forgot about everything during the duel – everything but ending the Blaze King. But since the Blaze King is now gone, he is happy.

**Author's Notes:**

I believe I popped this out much faster than the last chapter. (Go me!)

Anyways, now that my video game is complete, I can finally relax (and hopefully get more chapters done). Also, if you feel like leaving a review, don't be afraid to do so, I'll listen to any criticism I might receive. But other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	24. Chapter 23: A New Justice

**Chapter 23: A New Justice**

When Riss finally managed to get back into reality after the long duel, he noticed that the Blazes were wide-eyed and in shock with some of them whispering amongst each other. However, as the whispering died down, the Blazes returned to their normal eye positions and did something Riss didn't expect – they bowed down to him.

"What...?" stuttered Riss, trying to comprehend the situation.

"You have dethroned our leader," explained one of the Blazes, "For that, you have inherited the position of king."

Riss could not believe what he just heard. Did he just become king of the Blazes? Could it possibly mean that he also became king of the Nether?

"I... uh..." Riss tired stuttering out words, but he was at loss of them. As Riss tired speaking, Treka and Kaldar popped out from the corner to congratulate him. Both of them surrounded him with a very strong hug.

"You just... wow!" exclaimed Kaldar, "My commander would flinch at the thought of dueling a king, but you... I can't even explain..."

"We're just saying that we're amazed at you, Riss!" stated Treka, "Now... now you're a king!" Riss was pleased with the thought of being a king. He could have almost anything he wanted... but then again, there were still a few pieces of the puzzle missing. He felt as if something wasn't complete yet...

Suddenly, the realization hit him. He couldn't become a king because he still had to dethrone the Enderking and save Amarisa. After all, his position in power would be nullified if the universe was taken over.

Then again, how would he tell the news of him not being able to accept his position? He couldn't let the Nether go into anarchy. If he did, then the situation would be twice as crazy as when the Blaze King was sitting on the throne. However, after a few moments of thinking, Riss finally had an idea.

"I need an escort," stated Riss. Treka and Kaldar developed slightly confused expressions. They thought that his first command was to declare peace in the Nether or maybe even that he would give a victory speech. However, the Blazes followed his orders without complaint as a small group of seven Blazes appeared in front of Riss.

"Where to, your highness?" asked one of the Blazes in the small escort.

"Are you familiar with the town close to the portal to the Overworld?" asked Riss.

"We are," replied the same Blaze, "Is that your destination?"

"Yes," answered Riss, "And I want to escort these two with me as well." Riss pointed to Kaldar and Treka. He tried to sound professional and not snicker as he said that.

"Very well then. When shall we leave?"

"Immediately." The other Blazes looked at each other, almost slightly worried, but then the lead Blaze said, "Yes, your highness. We shall leave immediately." Once the order was processed, the Blazes led Riss, Kaldar, and Treka out the massive doors leading to the rest of the Nether. However, before leaving, Riss snatched the Blaze Rods that the Blaze King left behind.

Several hours later, the group arrived at a familiar town. While they were expecting positive greetings, the townspeople scurried inside instead. This was probably because the news of victory hasn't reached the town yet.

Eventually, a familiar-looking Netherborn (The Mayor of the town) and a new Netherborn with a face of experience appeared in front of Riss and the group.

"What do you want with us, Blazes?" asked the older-looking Netherborn.

"Should we respond, your highness?" asked the lead Blaze.

"Remain silent, I'll deal with this," replied Riss. The Blaze nodded and acknowledged the order.

"Wait... did he just call you 'your highness'?" asked the Mayor of the town.

"I assume you didn't hear the news?" asked Riss, "Blazes, jump."

"How high, your highness?" asked one of the Blazes.

"Wait a second... does this mean that you dethroned the Blaze King?" asked the older Netherborn, "Also, is it safe to approach the Blazes?"

"Yes and yes," answered Riss. When Riss said that, the jaws of the Mayor and the older Netherborn dropped down in awe. Finally, the older Netherborn managed to get a straight face again and walked over to Riss.

"Hello, I am Cyndaquis, President of the Netherborn Rebellion," stated the older Netherborn, "But since the Blazes are on our side now, I guess there is no more need for the Rebellion?

"I guess not," replied Riss, "In fact, I have a proposition for you that will allow you to stay in a good leadership position."

"Oh?" asked Cyndaquis.

"How would you like to go from President of an organization to King of the Nether?" asked Riss.

Cyndaquis was stunned at Riss's offer. "I... well... um... maybe..." stuttered Cyndaquis as he processed his thoughts.

"I'm a hero, so I don't really have time to rule an entire world," stated Riss, "Plus, this may be your only opportunity to get the keys to the Nether. Are you in?"

"I suggest you take the opportunity, Cyndaquis," pointed out the Mayor. The mayor began sweating slightly (which was surprising for an Netherborn). Finally, Cyndaquis exhaled and said, "I accept your offer." Riss smiled at his answer.

"Wait, to have a formal transfer of power, we need official documents..." stated one of the Blazes.

"That or an escort of witnesses," pointed out another Blaze.

"I guess that could work," said the Blaze that suggested the documents, "I guess we have a new leader! Easy come, easy go I guess..."

Riss nodded at the Blazes' discovery. "Meet your new king, Cyndaquis!" exclaimed Riss. The Blazes bowed down to Cyndaquis in response. After several moments, Cyndaquis ordered the Blazes to stand back up. Then, he began speaking to Riss.

"I don't know how I could thank you..." started Cyndaquis.

"There is one last thing you could do for me, Cynda- er, your highness," requested Riss.

"You can still call me Cyndaquis," he pointed out, "And what is it that you need?"

"We need a quick way to get back to Harlock. Also, we need some ender pearls. The entire world may depend on it."

"Well, you're in luck!" exclaimed Cyndaquis, "We have quite a few ender pearls in stock. Also, you can calibrate the portal to take you wherever you desire."

"In that case, take me into Harlock. It's time to save the universe... or at least try to."

**Author's Notes:**

Well, here is chapter 23! If the book goes according to plans, the book is currently about 70% complete. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the book completely done by February (If not, then I'll try March). Anyways, feel free to leave a review if you like!


	25. Chapter 24: Eying Into the Search

**Chapter 24: Eying Into the Search**

When Riss, Kaldar, and Treka took the portal back to Harlock, they landed in a back alley, well out of view from other people. They immediately turn to each other, wondering what to do next.

"We've got the blaze rods and ender pearls," stated Treka, "What now?"

"Yea, I've been wondering the same thing too," pointed out Kaldar.

Riss thought about the situation for a few moments. After that short time, he came to a conclusion. "Do you guys know about that locked door in the library?" asked Riss.

"Yea, why?" answered Treka.

"I was thinking that we may have something to do with it," pointed out Riss, "Even more, our answers may be in there as well."

"You do have a point," stated Kaldar, "Let's go try it out."

On the way there, they were noticed by multiple people walking down the streets. As they walked down the sidewalks, Kaldar's commander noticed him and came over.

"Hey Kaldar!" shouted Kaldar's commander as he ran over to him, "Have you come back? You saved the world, right?"

"Greetings sir, and not exactly and not yet," answered Kaldar as his commander got closer to him.

"Well, what are you back in Harlock for?"

"You know that ultra-restricted place in the library?"

"Yea, what about it?"

"My buddy Riss may have something to do with it."

"Hmm..." the commander took a good look at Riss before returning to talk to Kaldar.

"So you think this guy can unlock that door in the library?"

"I guess."

"You guess or you know?"

"Now that you mention it... I actually think I know he can unlock it."

"Well, as you know, perception is reality, Kaldar, and I'm certain that your friend will be able to unlock that section and save the world.

"Thanks sir."

"Well, have a good day!" After that conversation, Kaldar's commander returned to walking to wherever he needed to be.

"Well, at least we're close to the library," pointed out Riss, "Let's try not to get distracted again..." Kaldar and Treka nodded as they continued to the library on their right.

Once they got inside the library, they were greeted by Florissa. "Hey Riss!" she exclaimed as they walked in, "Back from your adventure?"

"Well, our adventure isn't over yet," replied Riss.

"Well, what do you need here in Harlock?"

"We would tell you how we got here, but you would say that it should come from one of the books in the library..."

Florissa thought for a few moments before saying, "I guess you're right. But you still probably shouldn't go near the restricted section... Mrs. Skyteller has gotten even crankier."

"Thanks," said Riss. After their conversation, Riss turned right and began heading down the large aisle of books. After a few moments, they arrived at their destination – a large door of bedrock with a design engraved into it.

"So, this is the door you think you can open?" asked Kaldar.

"I think so..." replied Riss, "Problem is, I don't know how I can open it yet." Treka tried to go in for a facepalm, but while doing so, she also noticed the hilt of the Sacred Sword. After looking, she noticed a similarity between the engraving and the sword. Also, the engraving seemed deep enough to put the sword through it!

"Hang on," interrupted Treka, "Try shoving your sword in there, Riss."

"Wait a minute..." said Riss while looking back at his sword. After he looked at it, he looked at the engraved lock and unsheathed his sword. "Hope this works!" Riss pushed his sword into the engraving on the large door. It fit perfectly! Riss then proceeded to turn his sword to the left in the lock. After a short push, Riss heard a click sound from deep within the door and pulled his sword out.

When he pulled his sword out, a massive thud came from within the door. The doors gradually began to go into the walls. The group stepped back as they watched in awe as the massive bedrock door open into two pieces.

When the door was fully opened, another thud sound was heard. Everyone in the library was staring at the dimly lit passage that led beyond the opened doors. Riss was the first to run into the passage. While Treka and Kaldar tried to follow, they hit what appeared to be a forcefield before making it into the door.

"Aren't you guys coming?" asked Riss.

"We can't go any farther!" answered Treka, "A forcefield is blocking us!"

"Oh," replied Riss, "I guess it's a hero thing..."

"Well, we guess you're on your own for now," stated Kaldar, "Just go see what's down there! We'll wait four you up here."

"Alright," said Riss. He turned back around and began walking down the stairs of the hall, hearing his footsteps echo against the walls.

Once Riss got to the end of the stairs, he noticed that he was inside a small, circular room. The only thing in the room except for a few torches that dimly lit the area was a pedestal with a book on it. Riss approached the book, brushed the dust off, and read the title.

"The Hero's Anthology," said Riss while reading, "Compiled by... Notch?" Riss felt slightly confused as he read the cover. However, he was somewhat certain that he would find the information in this book. He opened the cover and began reading.

"Written for the seventy-seventh Destiny Scroll Hero." Riss then turned the page to read the foreword of the book.

"If you are reading this text, then you are the seventy-seventh Destiny Scroll Hero. I have compiled this book because of a prophecy that intimidated me.

_Seventy-seven is the ultimate number,_

_The number in which the fallen developer returns._

_The hero of this number will tell whether evil will go into slumber,_

_Or if the universe will suffer from the developer's burns._

I believe the prophecy predicts the end of the Destiny Scroll Curse. If you don't know, the Destiny Scroll Curse was started by-" Riss tried to read the next word. However, it was scratched out. While he realized that it may have been an important detail, he kept on reading. "If this prophecy is true, then you and this man will have a large battle to determine the fate of the universe.

Because of this possible fate, I have written this book to help you with this task. I have taken out crucial pages from some books and put them in here so you can use it before evil does. Also, while my vision is foggy, I know that your first task involves Ender Pearls and Blaze Rods. Luckily, that's on the next page.

You may need to refer to this book in order to continue on your adventure. Unfortunately, this is for your eyes only, so you may not take it beyond this room. However, you may come back to re-read it at any time.

Good Luck,

Notch."

Riss flipped over to the next page to find an excerpt from the book _Mysteries of the End – Revealed_. (He recognized it as the ripped-out page.) He began reading again.

"... a piles of Blaze Powder and an Ender Pearl. Crushing a Blaze Rod will give you about two piles of Blaze Powder. Once you have those ingredients, you can place an Ender Pearl near of the pile of Blaze Powder. The pearl will automatically absorb enough powder to turn into an Eye of the Ender.

Once the Eyes have been crafted, you must throw an Eye of the Ender. The Eye will show you to the nearest End Portal. Once the Eyes have identified a portal, you must insert the eyes into each portal frame spot in order to activate it and travel to the end."

As Riss finished reading, he got out the Ender Pearls and Blaze Rods. He placed one rod on the floor and decided to crush it by stepping on it. Once he stepped on it, the rod busted into two piles of Blaze Powder. After doing that, he reached into his backpack and got out two ender pearls. He placed each pearl near each blaze powder pile and watched as they absorbed them. Once the powder piles were fully absorbed, the Ender Pearls suddenly developed eye-like qualities.

"Whoa..." said Riss. As he counted the Blaze Rods and Ender Pearls, he noticed that he had six Blaze Rods and twelve Ender Pearls – just the right amount.

He took all six Blaze Rods and crushed them, watching them turn into fine piles of Blaze Powder. After that, he placed each Ender Pearl near each Blaze Powder pile. The pearls absorbed the powder and obtained an eye-like quality, similar to the previous ones.

Riss grabbed each eye and put them in his backpack. He knew that he would no longer have to use the book for anything at the moment, so he closed it and began walking back up the stairs into the main library.

Once Riss returned to the top of the stairs, he was greeted by Kaldar and Treka, each curious to what he learned.

"So," wondered Treka, "What do we have to do?"

"First off, here's an Eye of the Ender," said Riss while reaching into his backpack to grab an Eye. Treka and Kaldar took a quick look at it before resuming to listen to Riss. "In order to find an End Portal, we need to toss this thing. It will search for the nearest one. Once we have found one, we need to activate it with the rest of the Eyes of the Ender. From there, we can go straight to the End."

"Alright," replied Treka, "But we don't know how long it will take for us to get to the End Portal..."

"Well, let's toss an eye out and see how far it goes. If it goes beyond the city walls, we'll prepare before taking off again."

"Sounds good," replied Kaldar. After agreeing, the group started to walk to the exit of the library while reviving a bit of attention through glances.

**Author's Notes:**

Well, that was chapter 24. As usual, feel free to leave a review if you like, I could always improve in one way or another!


	26. Chapter 25: Unlocking the Secret

**Chapter 25: Unlocking the Secret**

The group managed to get out the library doors and out onto the sidewalks. The group stopped, wondering how they would start searching.

"Give it a quick toss," pointed out Treka. Riss decided to do so as he tossed the Eye of the Ender slightly into the air. As it flew upwards, it gradually slowed down, making Riss think that he didn't do it right. However, as it began to fall down, it began hovering and started looking around, almost as if it had a mind of its own.

"Whoa..." said Kaldar. The Eye of the Ender looked to the right of the group and began flying down the sidewalk. The group began pursuing the Eye of the Ender, wondering as to where it will take them.

As the Eye of the Ender flew, it began to slow down. After several moments, the Eye of the Ender came to a complete stop and fell back down on the sidewalk. Riss ran over to it and picked it up, looking back to notice that they didn't cover much distance between the library and where they are now.

"Try giving it another toss," suggested Treka. Riss threw it up into the air slightly, and when it managed to control itself again, it began flying down the sidewalk. However, when it came to the first intersection, it turned left and flew across the street before landing on the sidewalk again.

The group quickly caught up with it again, and Riss gave it a small toss. The eye continued to fly down the sidewalk, and the group had to repeat this process several times before coming upon something strange.

Several moments later, the group thought that the Eye of the Ender landed around the general area of the well in the center of the town. However, when they tried looking around, they couldn't find it!"

"Why do you think the eye disappeared like that?" asked Kaldar.

"I don't really know," replied Riss, "But it might mean something." Treka looked at the well. When she looked, she noticed something similar to the shape of the engraving at the door of the section only Riss could enter.

"Riss, take a look," said Treka while pointing to the well. Riss looked, and he was quite surprised to notice a lock similar to the one at the library. "Try that out."

"Yea, it might lead to something," added Kaldar. Riss walked to the well, unsheathed his sword, and drove it into the engraving. Much like the library's engraving, it was a perfect fit, and he began turning it to the left until he heard a thud noise. Once he heard that noise, he drew his sword out of the well.

Even more thud sounds came from the well, and the group began to stand back cautiously. However, when the thud sounds stopped, the ground near the well began to fall downwards! The ground near the well fell down at various heights, and the group had no idea what was going on.

In the meantime, some of the people on the streets heard the sounds near the well. They began to crowd around the area, noticing what was happening. The sounds went on for several moments until the ground stopped moving.

When the ground stopped moving, the group and the crowd noticed that the fallen ground formed near-perfect stairs that led down to something. The crowd spectating the phenomenon began to whisper among themselves, wondering what this occurrence could mean. Words such as "library", "lock", and "sword" were fluttering around the crowd, suggesting that the news of the unlocking of the door within the library got around quickly.

When Riss, Kaldar, and Treka turned around, they noticed a massive crowd that began talking louder when they were noticed. Many of the phrases sent at the group were questions, concerning primarily with Riss's adventure.

The group was unsure of what to do. Would they follow them down to wherever the stairs led? Would they not let them pass until they answered their questions? Just as they began thinking the worst, a familiar yet powerful voice came from the back of the crowd.

"SILENCE!" shouted the voice. When the voice was heard, the crowd became quiet to where only the flowing of the wind could be heard. After that, some shuffling was heard within the crowd, almost as if somebody was trying to make their way to the front during the silence.

Turns out, somebody was trying to make their way to the front as a familiar face popped out from the crowd. It was Iramod!

"I see we have come far in our journey?" asked Iramod as he struggled his way to the front of the crowd and into the grassy area near the well.

"We're almost to the End," stated Riss, "The Eye of the Ender disappeared when it came over to this well.

"I believe that means that the End portal is below the well!" pointed out Iramod, "We never knew that it was so close..."

"Well," said Treka, "Guess we're almost ready to go to the End!"

"Indeed you are," replied Iramod, "And even closer to rescuing my daughter! Are you three ready to go to the end?"

"I believe we actually are," answered Kaldar.

"Alright," replied Iramod, "I'll keep the crowd under control. You three just go down there and see if there really is an End Portal down there.

"Thanks," said Riss, "We'll be sure that your daughter is safe!" The three then walked over to the stairs leading down to what could possibly be the End portal.

"Let's go kick some Ender butt," said Treka encouragingly. After that, the three began walking down the stairs below the well, wondering what could lie at the bottom of them.

**Author's Notes:**

Silly me, I just realized that the Eyes of the Ender were actually called Eyes of Ender... However, for consistency, I'll keep on calling them Eyes of the Ender in this story.

This was a relatively short chapter, but I'm sure that the chapters that follow this one will be longer and more interesting. Anyways, feel free to leave a review if you like!


	27. Chapter 26: Into the Portal

**Chapter 26: Into the Portal**

While venturing down the stairs to what could be the End portal, Kaldar began speaking.

"So, what will we do once we get to the end?" he asked.

"We'll try to find the Enderking first," stated Riss, "We'll deal with him, and if we are still alive by the time he has fallen, then we will get Amarisa and return to Harlock."

"But how do we know we're going to warp near the Enderking?" asked Treka.

"I have a slight feeling that we're going to warp close to him when we take the portal," replied Riss.

"Alright, it's your feeling," said Treka. They continued to venture down the many stairs that possibly led to the End portal. Finally, they came across a wooden door at the bottom of the stairs. With some struggle, they managed to open it and the came into a small hall.

The walls were lined with stone bricks and the hall was wide enough for the three of them to travel down. Plus, the halls were dimly lit with torches that somehow remained lit over an unknown amount of time.

"Which way?" asked Kaldar.

"I guess right," answered Treka. The group agreed and they turned right and began to venture down the hallway.

The first turn following their entry was a left turn, and they came across a small spiral staircase. They went up the spiral staircase and found themselves in what appeared to be a two-story library.

"Whoa," said Kaldar, "Since when was this here?"

"I don't know," answered Riss while looking around, "But seeing how much dust has collected on the bookshelves, I guess that it has been here for a long time.

"Perhaps one of these books contains a map of where we are," pointed out Treka.

"That sounds like a good idea," replied Riss, "Let's look around. Maybe we'll find that and something else that may help us today." The group broke into three and began to look around at the bookshelves.

Treka went to the left and looked at the titles of the books. She began to think that she arrived in the section about the End because some of the books included "History of the End", "The End and the Overworld", and "Kings and Queens of the End". This was a good sign because there were many books containing content about the End.

Eventually, Treka came across a book called "Getting In and Out of the End". She found interest in it and picked it up to began reading.

"Getting into the End is an easy task," said Treka to herself while flipping through the pages, "But you don't know where you will warp. Unless the portal has been used before, you can warp virtually anywhere within the End. However, getting out is the hard part. In order to get out of the End, you must slay the current king or queen of the End. When he or she has been slain, their corpse will turn into a portal back to the Overworld." Treka closed the book and began to run over to where Riss was, ready to share her information.

Moments before Treka's discovery, Kaldar was looking around through the books on the right. Much like Treka, many of them involved the End. However, when he came close to the end of the set of bookshelves, he noticed a pedestal laying off to the side with a single piece of paper on it. Kaldar walked over to it and looked at it. It was a map! He grabbed the map and began to run over to Riss.

In the meantime, Riss was also looking through the books on the upper floor. His set also contained books mostly about the End. However, while looking, he began to hear footsteps running to him from both sides. He pulled himself up from looking at the books and looked to his left. It was Treka! After seeing that, he looked to his right. It was Kaldar! They both came close to Riss and began trying to tell him what they found.

"Hang on, one at a time," requested Riss.

"I found out something about the End," stated Treka, "Take a look." She handed Riss the book with her finger in the page containing the information she found. He looked at the pages that she had bookmarked and then closed the book while looking at her.

"Turns out that this may be a harder task than we first expected," pointed out Riss, "Do we know if the portal has been used before?"

"Not really," replied Treka.

"Alright," said Riss, "What information do you have Kaldar?"

"I found a map on a pedestal," he said while showing it to Riss. Riss took a quick look at the map. He told the group that it was a map of the area they were in because he recognized the path they took to get to the library.

"Apparently, if we wanted to get to the portal, we were supposed to turn left when we entered this huge maze," stated Riss.

"Where do we go from there?" asked Treka.

"According to this map, we take a right turn at the first intersection and then a left turn after that. Those directions should bring us directly to the portal."

"Okay, should we start going there?" asked Kaldar.

"Definitely." The group walked down the stairs to the first floor of the library, placed their books on a table as they walked out, and began heading to the portal.

While on their way, they went down the staircase of the library, turned right, and began heading down the dimly lit hallway. They recognized the door they came in from and based their directions from that landmark.

Their path was rather obvious from that point. They took a right turn at the first intersection past the door and took the left turn at the intersection following that. When they performed these steps, they found themselves at another door. For some reason, the room ahead was more lit than the halls.

"I assume this is the portal?" asked Kaldar.

"I bet it is," replied Riss.

"Let's go check it out," suggested Treka. Riss opened the wooden door leading into the room. They were right about it being more lit than the other rooms. However, there were small fish-like creatures scampering the ground inside of the room. They approached the group intimidatingly.

"Look out!" shouted Kaldar as one of the creatures lurched out at Riss. Riss managed to dodge it, and he unsheathed his sword. He proceeded to drive his sword into the creature that tried to assault him. At the same time, Kaldar unsheathed his sword and Treka unsheathed her bow. The three found themselves standing side-by-side, dispatching and killing the creatures that assaulted them.

While fighting, Kaldar noticed something up ahead. It was some form of cage with the creature inside of it. While looking, he noticed three of the creatures magically appear, ready to attack! Kaldar had a sudden idea.

"Be right back," said Kaldar.

"Now's not the time to take a number two!" yelled Treka.

"I don't have to do that!" replied Kaldar. He began running to the cage while grabbing his pickaxe from his backpack. When he got to the cage, he began to wildly swing at the cage, attempting to break it. Eventually, he managed to break the cage. He began to run back to the fight, but by the time he got there, he noticed that Riss and Treka had ceased fire!

"There's no more of them," stated Treka. Kaldar looked around and noticed he was right!

"I think that cage thing was spawning them," pointed out Kaldar.

"For once, you may be right," said Treka, "And I think the End portal is up there." Treka pointed to the top of the stairs. Naturally, the three began to approach it, and when they did, they began to stare at what was ahead of them.

There were twelve frames placed in front of them, forming a square with three on each side. Below it was a pool of lava, which probably was the source of light in the room.

Riss recalled the instructions given to him by the book at the Harlock library and got the Eyes of the Ender out. Being careful not to drop any in lava, he carefully walked across each frame, placing the eyes in has he went. Eventually, he got back to where Treka and Kaldar were, and there was one last frame left to fill.

Riss placed the last Eye of the Ender into the unfilled frame. When every frame had an eye in it, a black void opened before group – the End portal.

"Wow, I didn't know that I would get to go into one of these," stated Treka.

"I didn't even know they existed until we began our adventure," added Kaldar.

"So, should we go into the portal on three?" asked Riss.

"Definitely," answered Treka, "One..." The group steadied themselves and took a few deep breaths, not knowing what would happen to them next.

"Two..." repeated Kaldar. The three naturally found themselves coming close to each other, hoping to stick together when they take the End portal.

"One," finished Riss. Riss, Treka, and Kaldar each took one step onto the frame. After that step, they put their feet into the portal. They were instantly warped from the Overworld and into the End.

**Author's Notes:**

This story is getting pretty close to done! If I complete it, then this will be the first Fan-Fiction I would have ever completed. (I attempted on other sites but didn't turn out so well.) Anyways, feel free to leave a review.


	28. Chapter 27: Beginning of the End

**Chapter 27: Beginning of the End**

After entering the portal, the three found themselves in a new place. The sky was composed of nothing but pure darkness, and after looking around, they assumed that they were on the top of... something. Also, they were standing on top of a platform of obsidian, and they also assumed that it had something to do with the portal.

"There's nobody around..." stated Riss, "I would think that there would at least be one Enderman on a tall structure like this..."

"Let's look around," suggested Treka. The group broke into three and began examining their surroundings. Each of them managed to get several conclusions – they were on top of a castle made of some form of Enderbrick that was floating on an island of end stone in the skies. Plus, there were pillars out in the distance with a glowing orb on top. The group didn't know what those were for, but they carried on with returning to each other.

"Did we each see that we were on a castle?" asked Riss.

"Yea," replied Kaldar and Treka.

"I bet this is the Enderking's castle," said Riss while looking over to a tall door on a corner of the roof they were on. "Let's head down to see if we can find him." Kaldar and Treka agreed and followed Riss into the door. (Riss had to reach up a slight distance to get to the doorknob.)

When they got into the door, the passage was completely dark. They began stretching their hands out in order to make sure that they didn't randomly run into anything. They were going down some stairs, and they were exceedingly careful not to trip.

Several moments later, they saw a small crack of light. They assumed that it was a door and opened it, and they found themselves in a narrow yet tall hall of the castle. To their left was a wall dotted with tall doors and to their right was multiple tall windows showing the End outside. They continued down this hall, hearing their footsteps echo against the walls. However, while walking, they heard another set of footsteps that didn't sound like human footsteps. The unknown steps were coming from the turn up ahead!

"Quick, get to the side!" whispered Riss. They got to the side with the wall, being close to the turn. Riss's plan was to intercept the mysterious being and try to get some answers. They gradually heard the steps getting closer and closer until Riss found that it was time.

He launched himself to the left, and he met his mark. He manged to pin an Enderman against the wall, and the Enderman was very surprised.

"What do you want from me!" transmitted the Enderman. Rather than saying it directly to Riss, he transmitted the phrase telepathically, probably because he didn't know how to speak Riss's language using his mouth.

"Tell us where the Enderking is and we'll let you go," replied Riss.

"Alright! The Enderking is sitting on his throne. The quickest way to the throne room is to take the third door on the left. After that, you have to walk down those stairs, take a right, enter the second door on the left, head down the stairs, turn left, and enter the massive door on the left. That will bring you straight to the Enderking and you can't miss it!"

"Thanks!" Riss let the Enderman go. As the Enderman continued down the hall, Riss, Kaldar, and Treka went the way they were instructed to go, taking the turn and the third door on the left.

Once again, the stairway was dark, so the group had to extend their arms to make sure they didn't run into anything surprising. Also, they came across another slight crack of light, and Riss opened the door after feeling a doorknob nearby.

Following the Enderman's directions, they turned right, walked a slight bit, and turned left at the second door. They came across a dark set of stairs again, and they were careful not to trip and fall while walking down these stairs. However, while walking down, a slight gasp was heard from Kaldar. He almost tripped...

"Walk much?" whispered Treka.

"Not in absolute darkness," replied Kaldar. The group continued down the stairs even more cautiously after that moment. The slight spot of light took a little longer to appear this time, but eventually, they found it at the bottom of the stairs, and Riss was able to feel and open a tall door.

The group found themselves in a hall with an incredibly high roof. Plus, the wall in front of them had many windows in it revealing the End outside of the castle. They turned left and as the Enderman said, they came across a massive door. The door was actually two doors right next to each other with an arch to make it look like that it is a single door.

"I bet this is it," pointed out Kaldar.

"You're right," replied Riss, "I have a slight feeling that the Enderking is just beyond this door." Riss noticed that the door handle was at around the same height as the previous doorknobs were.

"Ready to go in?" asked Treka.

Riss took a few deep breaths. He realized that he was about to go up against a very powerful king, possibly more powerful than the Blaze King. Plus, he realized that Amarisa may be in there too, and he gulped as he came to his decision.

"I'm ready," replied Riss. Kaldar grabbed on the handle of the left door and swung it open. Riss was the first to go in.

When Riss managed to get a good look at the throne room, he was stunned. There were pillars on each side of the room supporting the ceiling about four stories above, and there were two doors on each side as well. There was also a red carpet with yellow bordering that led all the way up to the throne. However, rather than the throne, what was above the throne caught Riss's attention.

Suspended about two stories above the throne was a cage with someone in it. The person in it was a female about Riss's age that was wearing a worn-out white dress with holes in it. Also, she had stunning blue eyes and blonde hair. When the girl saw Riss and the group walk in, her attention was immediately diverted to them, and she grasped the bars of the cage in desperation.

Riss had several thoughts about this girl. Somehow, he thought that he knew her, but he was going through some self-doubts. However, he then heard the girl speak.

"Riss?!" shouted the girl. Suddenly, Riss's suspicions were confirmed. The girl was Amarisa! However, before having a chance to speak back, he heard a snap from below the cage and the cage ascended via chain back into the ceiling.

Gradually, Riss looked below the rising cage towards the throne. There, he found another being sitting in the throne. This being appeared to be taller than the Endermen that lived within the castle. Plus, he had a crown of darkness on his head with several gemstones dotted amongst it. Riss didn't need to have a small discussion within his head to confirm the being's identity. It was the Enderking.

When the cage ascended into the ceiling, the Enderking rose from his throne and began to approach the group from far within the room. While approaching, Riss heard a very powerful and deep phrase come from him. "Welcome to the End."

**Author's Notes:**

Here's chapter 27! Sorry if this took a slight bit longer to write, but I hope you like it anyways. Well, feel free to leave a review if you like!


	29. Chapter 28: The Enderking

**Chapter 28: The Enderking**

The Enderking continued to walk down the red carpet, approaching the group as he strolled. When he finally got within casual yet firm speaking range of the group, he began to pace around, taking a few moments of silence before speaking.

"I knew you had to come at some point Riss," stated the Enderking, "You couldn't hide from me forever. And it was a pretty clever idea to hide too. I probably would've whisked you away with that damsel in distress as well. But alas, you're here now, and you're in fighting-fit shape. I believe I know what you want."

"We want Amarisa back," pointed out Riss firmly, "And we're definitely going to take her from you, and you can choose whether we do it the easy way or the hard way."

"Is that so?" asked the Enderking, "Is there not something else that is driving your will to destroy me?"

"I'm pretty sure that is what Riss wants," said Kaldar.

"Silence, boy," stated the Enderking in a slightly harsh manner, "I'm talking to the so-called hero." He then proceeded to talk to Riss again. "Well, I think I want to give her up to you the hard way then. But before we commence, let me tell you a little story."

"Alright," replied Riss.

"About four or five years ago, I launched an attack on Harlock. As I stated earlier, my goal was to get you and bring you here. However, I couldn't find you anywhere in Harlock. When I asked the screaming and fleeing residents, they claimed that you left long ago. After several more hours of searching, I finally decided to take something else. She's up in the attic of the castle right now."

"Amarisa?"

"Oh yes... she has kept me company over the years. But other than that, how about we make the duel more interesting..."

"Oh?"

"How about we have a duel. Swords only and to the death. If you win, you can have your princess back. However, if I win, I get to kill your friends and claim the Overworld for myself in the process. What do you think of those terms?"

"Can I confer with my friends for a moment?"

"Um... yes. But do not take long. I've waited ten years for this moment." The Enderking turned his back at the group while Riss began talking to them.

"Should I accept his challenge?" asked Riss softly.

"He is an extremely powerful foe," pointed out Kaldar.

"But then again, if you reject his challenge, you reject the Overworld. If you lose, then you might as well go down trying," added Treka.

"Gee, thanks for the motivating words Treka," said Riss sarcastically.

"Don't worry Riss, you are very powerful," said Kaldar encouragingly, "If you put your heart at it, you can save many worlds. After all, you already saved one world, might as well save a few more."

Riss smiled at Kaldar's words. "Thanks, I think I am able to face him now." Kaldar and Treka smiled back while Riss turned back around. In response, the Enderking turned back around himself to face Riss.

"Your decision?" asked the Enderking.

"I accept your terms," stated Riss with great firmness.

"Very well then," said the Enderking while stepping back and stretching his arm out, "Maybe you are a hero. Most humans would deny a challenge from me with no second thought." While Riss began to draw his sword, a small patch of darkness formed in the space near the Enderking's arms. The patch of darkness begun to expand and form itself into a figure. The figure began stretching out into a large blade. Eventually, a hilt even formed at the bottom of the blade.

When the dark figure was done forming, the Enderking grabbed it. It was a sword of darkness, colored as black as the deepest reaches of space. Also, Riss could feel a dark aura radiating from this sword, almost as if it was working directly against him. However, he also felt a small feeling from his sword, almost as if it was working against the Enderking.

Kaldar and Treka stepped back as the Enderking and Riss directly faced each other, waiting for the first strike to commence. The air was growing more tense in the room as the two looked at each other with fierce glares.

"You are obviously more brave than any human I've seen," stated the Enderking, "Only Notch himself was brave enough to stand up against me. Actually, I don't think you're an ordinary human anymore. I believe you're connected to the developers at Mount Mojang somehow..."

"Oh?" asked Riss.

"I see. I can feel the light radiating from your sword. It's working against me, a being of darkness. However, at the same time, my sword is working against you, a being of light. Can you feel the darkness pressuring you?"

"Yes..."

"Alright, then my sword registers you as a being of light. It has a hunger for your blood. However, at the same time, your sword hungers for my blood as well. Do you want to know why I took Amarisa when I couldn't find you?"

"Why?"

"I also felt an aura of light radiating from her. I could tell that she was linked with the developers as well. But other than that, I took her because it would be enough incentive for someone to come and rescue her. And that probably explains why you are here!"

"Wow... wait, what do you mean?"

"I'll explain later. But I believe I've explained enough." The air in the room grew even more tense as the duel seemed like it was about to commence. Time seemed to slow down in anticipation for the first move.

"Best of luck to you, Riss. En Garde."

**Author's Notes:**

Here is chapter 28! Well, the book is really coming close to its end! (No pun intended) I know that this chapter was somewhat short, but feel free to leave a review if you like!


	30. Chapter 29: The Great Challenge

**Chapter 29: The Great Challenge**

The duel began in an instant. The Enderking launched himself to Riss and began attacking furiously, much like how the Blaze King started his duel. Riss was able to block each attack with great swiftness, but as he blocked, he felt like his sword was doing most of the work while Riss was just providing hands to hold the sword with. Somehow, he concluded that his sword _wanted _to attack the Enderking on its own.

The Enderking's attacks were powerful, and if Riss didn't have the Sacred Sword, he may have fallen in a heartbeat. However, since his sword almost had a mind of its own, he was able to block each attack swiftly.

Several moments into the barrage, the Enderking took a slight hesitation to attack. It wasn't long enough for Riss to cut the Enderking's legs off, but this time, Riss was able to lock swords with the Enderking in a comfortable position. Though the two swords seemed equally matched, Riss's position allowed him to seize the advantage! While the Enderking was at a disadvantage with his position, Riss was able to push him back, and the Enderking fell to the ground!

Riss ran in to land the final strike. _This was too short, _he thought. However, as he got his sword ready to strike, the Enderking rolled out of the way and jumped back on his feet in a single swift movement. Riss was able to get back into his stance before he sustained any serious disadvantages.

This time, Riss naturally felt the need to go on with the offensive. Much like the Enderking, he launched himself at his opponent, launching lots of strikes. While attacking, Riss felt like his sword was doing most of the work and was causing his arms to move according to its plans. However, as he attacked, the Enderking was able to block each strike quickly without breaking a sweat.

The barrage continued for a small while before the Enderking began to wise up to Riss's strategy. When Riss launched one strike, the Enderking jumped backwards rather than blocking it with his own sword. Riss's sword sliced nothing but air, and the Enderking began to levitate with a small circle of darkness forming beneath his feet.

The Enderking began to soar around, probably showing off. However, his time of showing off came to an end when he began to shoot spheres of darkness at Riss. The spheres were fired like fireballs, but these spheres had occasional sparks jolt out of it. Riss would realize that these spheres were called endersparks, but for now, he just realized that he needed to stop them.

Riss began by blocking the sparks with his sword. As he blocked, the endersparks disappeared, almost as if they were being absorbed into the sword. The Enderking continued with this strategy, and Riss was able to block each enderspark as it arrived.

While blocking, Riss heard a familiar voice within his head. "He's trying to wear you down," said the voice in his head. It was the same voice that contacted him during the duel with the Blaze King! "Do the same thing you did with the Blaze King! Reflect the endersparks!"

Riss acknowledged the advice and waited for the Enderking to launch another spark. When he did, rather than using his sword to block it, he swung at it, and the spark was launched back at the Enderking!

The Enderking barely missed his own enderspark, but during the dodge, he launched another one and Riss was able to reflect it once more. This time, the enderspark came even closer to the Enderking, but he was able to dodge it.

"Not bad," said the Enderking, "But let's see how accurately you can hit a moving target!" Gradually, the Enderking began to speed up. The circle under his feet spun faster as the Enderking accelerated in a circle around Riss.

Riss almost became dizzy from watching the Enderking spin around him. Also, he was unsure about where he would strike from next. Eventually, the Enderking was spinning fast enough to where he gave Riss the illusion that he had formed a solid circle above Riss.

Once this illusion became successful, random endersparks began flying from the illusive circle. Riss turned to reflect the enderspark, but it flew straight through the circle. After that, Riss saw another enderspark to the right and reflected it. Once again, it flew straight through the circle as if it were nothing. During that, an enderspark came from behind Riss. It was rough, but Riss was barely able to turn around and reflect it. Once again, it flew through the circle.

Riss was beginning to pant, and it almost seemed like the Enderking was gaining speed as he circled around Riss. As the Enderking revolved around him, he shot more endersparks at Riss. Riss was still able to block them, and as he blocked, they went straight through the circle.

Riss eventually discovered that he was in a tight spot and that he couldn't do anything about it. He considered his options. He could run... but that would allow the Enderking to have a serious advantage. He could stay here and fight... but the Enderking would still have an advantage. Either way, Riss was at a disadvantage. He really didn't know what to do next.

"Uh..." thought Riss blankly.

"I'm not sure how we're going to achieve victory now. He has many advantages. It would almost take a miracle now," said the voice. While talking, the voice gave a slight cough of sickness.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," said the voice, "Just keep on blocking and reflecting. I'll be fine." Somehow, Riss had doubts about the voice's current state, but he trusted it. However, at the same time, Riss was beginning to think that he might lose the duel...

**Author's Notes:**

This was chapter 29! This may have been shorter than the rest of the chapters, but I'll try to make the next chapter longer because it will probably be an important one. As of now, the story is 87% complete. Anyways, feel free to leave a review if you like!


	31. Chapter 30: Power of the Ender

**Chapter 30: Power of the Ender**

As he dueled, Riss was attempting to reflect each enderspark the Enderking shot from the circle he created from levitating at great speeds above Riss. But as Riss reflected, the Enderking was able to dodge each shot from his circle.

Eventually, after reflecting multiple endersparks, Riss began to feel weak. Because of this, Riss decided to scrap the idea of reflecting and begin blocking again. The Enderking continued to shoot endersparks, and his sword blocked each spark. However, during the blocks, Riss began to feel the adrenaline-like feeling created by his sword disappear from him.

Each enderspark hit with more ferocity than the previous one. Riss thought that the Enderking was growing stronger, but the truth was that Riss was growing weaker! Also, while blocking, Riss looked at his sword. It no longer generated a powerful aura of light. The light from his sword was dangerously dim and his sword began to look bleak. Something told him that the endersparks were doing extreme amounts of damage to his sword, almost as if the darkness from the endersparks were weakening his sword.

At the same time, Riss began to feel weaker himself. As he blocked, the sword felt more awkward and ordinary in his hand, and he began to feel as if his skill was weakening as the duel progressed. Eventually, after many endersparks, the sword felt extremely ordinary, almost as if it was a sword bought from the market at Harlock.

Also, as the Enderking launched his endersparks, it took more effort and time for Riss to block the endersparks. However, the Enderking launched one other enderspark. Though Riss was able to raise his sword in time, the enderspark caused Riss to fall on the ground, and Riss began to feel his consciousness fade.

"This is it," whispered Riss to himself, "The sword was right. It did take a miracle. And I didn't really get any miracles..."

At the same time, the Enderking's circle of speed came to a halt and he landed in front of Riss with his own sword, still as dark as deep space. The Enderking pointed his sword to Riss, ready to land the final blow.

"Any last words, hero?" asked the Enderking in an intimidating manner. As he was saying that, Riss tired to point his sword to the skies. He wanted the light to return to him, to be reinvigorated with the sword's power.

Time slowed down drastically as the Enderking swung his sword down. Riss thought that it would be the end, but during the final swing, Riss's sword suddenly lit up again at it's full brightness. Also, Riss felt completely reinvigorated and ready to fight again! In a swift move, he brought his sword around and blocked the Enderking's final strike! Also, Riss was able to push the Enderking away. In the meantime, he got back up, ready to fight again.

"No... I can't believe it..." that's impossible..." murmured the Enderking in awe. The Enderking completely let his guard down, and in the meantime, Riss imagined the power of the light being unleashed from his sword.

Riss swung his sword downwards. While it wildly missed the Enderking, a pinwheel of light formed where the sword swung. The pinwheel began spinning towards the Enderking and hit him directly, causing him to fall back and drop his sword!

The Enderking was lying on the ground with the occasional spark of light popping out of him. In the meantime, Riss approached him. While approaching, Riss recharged his sword with light and pointed it at the Enderking.

"Any last words, villain?" asked Riss. The Enderking grunted, but while on the ground, he almost began grinning in a menacing way. There was something about him Riss didn't know.

"You seriously think the fight is over?" asked the Enderking, "The fight has just begun!" The Enderking then cringed as a massive orb of darkness engulfed him. Riss began standing back himself as the orb began to enlarge.

When the orb was about two stories tall, the orb began to stretch itself out and form a shape. Treka and Kaldar came over to Riss while they watched this orb take on it's terrifying form. They thought it was forming into a sword. However, as the shape was realized, they noticed wings and an incredibly long tail.

By the time the orb was completely formed, the figure was two stories tall and was the size of the throne room. The three quickly realized that it could go down as the most terrifying thing they've ever seen. The orb formed into a dragon.

"No... way..." said Riss in awe. The pillars supporting the throne room shattered as the dragon stretched its wings. Then, it flew a story up and began flying outwards, causing the three to duck while the dragon flew outside, shattering the castle walls even more.

When the dust cleared, Riss looked at what was once the throne room. The throne was completely crushed, the red carpet was torn up, and the dark skies above were exposed as the roof was torn off. Also, the floor was covered with debris from the fallen roof. However, while looking, he noticed something else amongst the rubble. It looked like a girl with an extremely torn up dress. It was Amarisa! He forgot that she was placed in the roof!

The group instantly ran over to Amarisa to check on her. Riss was the first to arrive and he grabbed her hand while saying "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," replied Amarisa after giving a slight cough, "We just have to get him!" Riss helped Amarisa up while they looked out the massive hole of the castle. The dragon was flying around, waiting for the four to come out.

"I guess the duel is now void?" asked Kaldar.

"Definitely," replied Riss, "This is no longer a duel. This is a battle."

**Author's Notes:**

Thanks for all the positive feedback you guys have given me so far! It has inspired me to continue with writing this story. Also, this story is really beginning to come to an end, and if the story goes as planned, I only have two chapters and one epilogue left to write. Anyways, feel free to leave a review if you like, I could always improve!


	32. Chapter 31: The Enderdragon

**Chapter 31: The Enderdragon**

After picking themselves up, Riss, Kaldar, Treka, and Amarisa quickly dashed out of the fallen throne room. While Amarisa was keeping up well with the rest of the group, she was carefully dodging any sharp objects that fell when the Enderdragon shattered the castle.

Several moments later, the four were completely outside. The end stone seemed to work just like normal stone from the Overworld. However, they noticed again that they were on a floating island of it, and rather than having water below, there was an endless void below. Also, a deep yet very soft ambient sound could be heard while standing in the End.

"Look over there!" yelled Amarisa while pointing in the distance. After looking, they could clearly see the Enderdragon flying around the pillars of obsidian. However, as he flew, an entire horde of Endermen appeared on the end stone. Riss was right, it was turning into an all-out battle.

"We need to split up!" shouted Riss to the rest of the group. "We can't handle the dragon and an Enderman horde at the same time!"

"Kaldar and I will take the Endermen!" replied Treka while she unsheathed her bow and Kaldar drew his sword, "You just get rid of the dragon!" After giving her plans, she and Kaldar ran to confront the Enderman horde.

"Stay here, it's too dangerous," said Riss while looking at Amarisa. After saying that, Riss began running straight towards the Enderdragon, but Amarisa decided to follow him.

"What did I say about staying there?" asked Riss while running.

"I can help! I know some important skills that-" replied Amarisa before being cut off by Riss.

"It's too dangerous! It's bad enough that he captured you!"

"I can help! I promise!"

"Better off safe than sorry!"

"Just give me a chance to help! You won't regret it..." After hearing this from Amarisa, Riss slowed down to consider his options. Amarisa was unarmed, didn't have any clothes fit for fighting or adventure, and Riss didn't know what skills she had. However, before the duel, the Enderking did state something about her being linked with the developers as well. Plus, Riss knew that she was too wise to make a decision in this state, so he knew there must be something about her he doesn't know. Finally, Riss came to a conclusion.

"Alright, you can help. But don't get into any situations too risky!"

Amarisa smiled at Riss. "Thanks, and you won't regret it!" They continued dashing to the place where the Enderdragon flew. They would have been sweating a lot, but there was no humidity in the End. However, they were panting, but they kept going on, for they knew that the fate of the universe depended on it.

While Riss and Amarisa were pursuing the Enderdragon, Kaldar and Treka were busy running to the horde. They were panting as well, but when they got within close range, half of the horde teleported behind them!

Kaldar was the first one to notice this. The Endermen were nearing them from both in front and in back! They knew that this would be a rough battle to live through. Plus, they were uncertain whether they would make it out alive or not! But they decided to carry on anyways.

"Back to back!" shouted Treka. Kaldar recognized this command as the two stood close to each other with their backs facing each other. While standing close, they both could feel their cheeks warm up, even during this situation. The feeling lasted for a moment before it was cast aside when the Endermen came close.

"This is it!" shouted Kaldar. He rose his sword, ready to fight the Endermen.

"Let's hope we make it through!" replied Treka as she loaded an arrow onto her bow and drew it. As they did that, the Endermen were drawing closer and closer. Finally, when they were close enough, the two made their first kills. Treka's arrow lodged itself straight into the head of an Enderman while Kaldar's long sword sliced an Enderman in half.

After that, Treka loaded another arrow onto her bow and drew it while Kaldar rose his sword again. Once more, Treka landed a headshot while Kaldar fatally sliced an Enderman. The two began to feel like this battle would actually turn out to be better than they originally thought, but they still had their doubts.

In the meantime, Riss and Amarisa arrived within proximity of the dragon. The dragon gave a deep and loud roar as he flew, noticing the two as he went. He began picking up his pace, ready to begin the fight.

"Get ready," warned Riss as he charged up his sword with light while looking at the Enderdragon. He patiently waited for a few seconds while the Enderdragon flew around while charging up his sword with light even more. Once the Enderdragon faced them and opened his mouth to shoot an enderspark, Riss unleashed the light, watching as a massive pinwheel of light erupted from his sword and flew to the Enderdragon. Riss then began to watch the first strike take place.

While Riss shot his pinwheel of light, the Enderdragon shot the enderspark from his mouth. Riss's pinwheel was about as tall as he was, but the Enderdragon's enderspark was perfectly round and was twice as tall as Riss was. When the pinwheel and the enderspark collided, the enderspark shrunk down to about half of Riss's height while the pinwheel disappeared. Riss thought that this would be an early end, but he then noticed that there was a second shot of light that caused the enderspark to disappear! He looked to his right and noticed that Amarisa had her right hand extended and opened while a small gleam of light fizzled from her hand.

"A- a- Amarisa?" asked Riss.

"You didn't know I was like you?" said Amarisa while smiling, "I told you I could be a help!"

Riss smiled back. "Wow, you may actually- INCOMING!" Riss cut off his own phrase when he noticed an enderspark coming in. They didn't have time to blast it, so they jumped out of the enderspark's way. The gave a small explosion when it landed, but Riss and Amarisa were able to dodge it. After dodging it, the two began to run back to each other while charging up for another strike.

When the Enderdragon shot another enderspark, Riss shot his pinwheel while Amarisa shot her blast of light. However, while the pinwheel managed to become twice the size of Riss and caused the enderspark to vanish, something went wrong with Amarisa's shot. When she shot her ray of light, Riss accidentally jumped in front of her, causing him to be hit with the light! Amarisa's heart skipped a beat and her perspective of time slowed down as she watched him gradually fly out of her view, almost ready to crash. However, instead of crashing, he did a cartwheel and bounced back up!

Riss noticed that the was struck with light, but he also realized that he was not harmed. He began charging up his sword again. However, he noticed that it was charging up faster than it has ever charged up.

"Riss!" shouted Amarisa, "I thought that light hurt you!"

"I'm fine," replied Riss, "In fact, I feel stronger than ever!"

Amarisa noticed what happened and came to her own conclusion. "Quick, send that light you charged up at me!"

"Wait, what?" asked Riss in confusion.

"Just do it!" shouted Amarisa, "I'm like you, remember?"

"Good point, but let's hope this works!" Riss send a pinwheel of light from his sword at Amarisa. Much like how Riss absorbed Amarisa's blast of light, she absorbed his pinwheel, and she was left unscratched.

"I feel amazing!" shouted Amarisa, "And now is the time to kick some dragon butt!"

At the same time, Kaldar and Treka were continuing to hold off the Endermen. While Amarisa managed to kill off the Endermen on her side using accurate arrow shots to the chest or the head, Kaldar was able to hold Endermen off by slicing them with his sword.

"How you doing back there?" asked Amarisa while loading another arrow. However, as she asked that, Kaldar noticed an Enderman's arm swing over to him. Kaldar was barely able to dodge it by ducking, and while the Enderman lost control through his swing, Kaldar was able to seize the moment by slashing through the Enderman. He quickly got back up and got back into stance, ready to fight again.

"I'm doing alright, you?" asked Kaldar. Treka quickly noticed an Enderman swing its arm down on her while loading another arrow. However, in a heartbeat, she quickly unloaded the arrow and stuck the sharp edge upwards where the arm was supposed to land. When the Enderman's arm hit the arrow, he flinched while it drove through his skin and Treka pulled it out. While holding his wounded arm with his other arm in agony. Treka was able to drive the arrow through the Enderman. The Enderman fell over and Treka loaded the arrow onto her bow.

"I'm doing alright as well," replied Treka. She loosened the arrow with the dark Enderman blood on it at the head of an Enderman, but while it lodged itself through the head of one Enderman, it also went through another, binding the two together through the arrow.

At the same time, Riss and Amarisa felt revitalized from getting hit with blasts of light. They turned to face the Enderdragon, who was charging up for another enderspark strike. At the same time, Riss charged up his sword and Amarisa got ready to launch a blast of light at the Enderdragon. Finally, when the Enderdragon shot the enderspark, the two launched their blasts of light at the dragon.

Riss's pinwheel managed to cause the enderspark to vanish when they collided. However, Amarisa's massive blast of light was fast and fierce, hitting the Enderdragon directly in the wing! The two could hear the Enderdragon scream in agony as it began to flap its way over to one of the pillars.

"Wait, what is it doing?" asked Riss. He could notice a small hole in the Enderdragon's left wing as it flapped to the pillar. However, when it got to the pillar, the fiery cube on top of it began to send a small bean at the Enderdragon's wounded wing, filling in the hole generated by the light! When the hole was filled, the Enderdragon continued to fly as if it was never hit by the light.

"I think it just healed itself!" replied Amarisa. Plus, when the Enderdragon shot another enderspark at the two, it took both of their light attacks combined to fizzle it.

"We may be in for quite the fight now," pointed out Riss.

**Author's Notes:**

Thank you for reading the story so far! Due to some requests, I have made this chapter longer than the other ones recently posted. I hope it's long enough, but if it doesn't meet your standards yet, I will try to make the next one longer.

Anyways, feel free to leave a review, I could always improve in one way or another!


	33. Chapter 32: Endgame

**Chapter 32: Endgame**

Riss and Amarisa noticed that the Enderdragon recovered from the wound given to it through the light, and he was ready to attack again. However, after the first strike, Riss and Amarisa noticed that he healed himself through the fiery cubes on top of the pillars throughout the End.

"We need to take those cubes out if we are to win this thing!" shouted Riss as he charged up his sword for another attack.

"You keep the pressure on the Enderdragon," replied Amarisa, "I'll try to take out the cubes!" While Riss was charging up his sword, Amarisa got ready to shoot a ray of light to the cube closest to the Enderdragon. Rather than focusing on power, Amarisa focused on speed with her ray of light. When she was ready, she unleashed the blast of light, and while it wasn't large, it was extremely fast, going from her to the cube on top of the pillar in about a second.

When the light hit the cube, it exploded, and since the Enderdragon was nearby, it gave a slight howl of pain and went to another cube to heal.

"Seems like it's working!" shouted Riss, "Let's continue with this plan! I think we just got the upper hand!" Riss charged his sword for another slash while Amarisa got ready to shoot another blast of light.

At the same time, the Enderdragon noticed the plan the two had in mind. He decided that he would try to intercept Amarisa's rays of light with his own endersparks. While Amarisa was charging up another quick shot, he began charging up his own enderspark, trying to time it right to intercept the zap of light. When Amarisa seemed ready to fire, the Enderdragon shot his own enderspark, trying to hit it at the right time. After that, Amarisa shot her blast of light.

The Enderdragon realized that his timing was slightly early when his enderspark went past the path the light blast was supposed to travel on. Because of that, his enderspark missed the light blast, and the light managed to take out another fiery cube. Fortunately for the Enderdragon, he was not within the vicinity of the cube when it exploded, so he took no damage.

"About nine more to go!" shouted Amarisa. When she prepared to launch yet another ray of light, the Enderdragon tried to time his enderspark to intercept the light. However, he was too late this time, and before he could intercept the light, it made contact with another healing cube.

Two more healing cubes went down over the next few moments. On the first one, the Enderdragon was too early, but on the second one, the Enderdragon managed to get very close to the light with his enderspark. However, it still didn't hit, taking down that healing cube as well.

"Six more to go!" shouted Amarisa. The Enderdragon realized that he was running out of time to make a recovery. He realized that it was now or never, and he didn't want to lose this battle. But despite his intentions, he was slightly off-target over the next five cubes. Two blasts of light were really close to being intercepted, but the Enderdragon could not intercept the light with his endersparks.

The Enderdragon eventually realized that he couldn't make his mark because Riss was too busy distracting him with pinwheels of light! The Enderdragon decided to change plan and fire an enderspark at Riss before Amarisa fired her blast of light.

Riss could see the Enderdragon charging another enderspark. However, rather than waiting, he actually fired it at Riss! At the same time, Riss was charging his sword for another light pinwheel, but he had to let it loose early to destroy the enderspark aimed at him.

Shortly after, Amarisa fired a blast of light to the last healing cube. This time, when the Enderdragon fired another enderspark, he managed to intercept the light perfectly, and the final healing cube was preserved.

"Don't let him distract you, Riss!" shouted Amarisa. Riss acknowledged this order by charging up his sword before the Enderdragon managed to get an enderspark ready. Riss was beginning to doubt this strategy, but he discovered that it worked when the Enderdragon fired another enderspark to Riss. Not only did Riss's light pinwheel shatter the enderspark, it also managed to keep on traveling to the Enderdragon!

The Enderdragon managed to barely maneuver away from the light pinwheel, but at the same time, he noticed another blast of light fly to the last healing cube. He shot a tiny enderspark as a last resort, but he was too late. All of the fiery healing cubes were down. The Enderdragon was on his own.

To cope with this change, the Enderdragon decided to start charging directly at Amarisa and Riss while shooting endersparks. To figure out how he would do this, he looked out of the corner of his eye to Amarisa and Riss. They were both charging light again, and he flew downwards to them while charging his own enderspark.

When the timing was right, he fired his own enderspark at the two, and while their combined effort with light took out the enderspark, they noticed a more terrifying figure approaching them quickly. The Enderdragon was charging towards them!

The two just barely managed to jump out of the way before the Enderdragon arrived at where they stood. The adrenaline was racing through their bodies as they hit the ground and looked at the Enderdragon. They realized that he left a noticeable hole where he crashed, and he managed to get back into the sky again quickly.

"That's it!" shouted Riss, "We'll get him when he's still getting back up into the skies! He won't have enough time to intercept or dodge us!" Amarisa gave a slight nod as the two got back into their fighting positions.

When the Enderdragon flew back around and got ready to fire more endersparks, the two stepped out of the way before he fired. When they stepped away, the Enderdragon fired, but he missed his mark. Furthermore, as he was charging, he began to slow himself down when he realized that there was no target!

When the Enderdragon slowed down, Riss and Amarisa noticed the chance. However, as soon as they noticed it, the chance went away as the Enderdragon slowed down to prevent crashing. When he managed to stop falling downwards, he took to the skies again, ready to attack Riss and Amarisa again.

"Maybe not as early this time," pointed out Riss. When Amarisa heard his advice, they waited until the Enderdragon let loose an enderspark before jumping out of the way. Luckily, they managed to dodge it while maintaining their stance, and the Enderdragon crashed into the ground. They noticed that it took a while for the Enderdragon to get back into the skies, but it wasn't enough time for them to launch a decent strike. But just as the two thought that their plan was useless, Riss had an idea that would finish the battle.

He swung his sword down, imaging that his sword let loose a lasso of light towards the Enderdragon's front-right leg. At the same time, he imagined that his sword was continually being charged with a steady stream of light to maintain the lasso. He closed his eyes while imagining this, but when he opened his eyes, he noticed that he had a firm grip on the Enderdragon with his lasso sword!

The Enderdragon was howling as Amarisa began to charge up an incredibly powerful blast of light. Once it was fully charged, Amarisa let out an incredibly powerful blast of light, covering the Enderdragon in light for a few good seconds.

When the light wore off, Riss caused the Enderdragon to crash to the ground with no chance of recovery by letting him go from his lasso. At this point, Riss was beginning to run straight up to the Enderdragon with his sword, ready to land the final blow. At the same time, the darkness that formed the Enderdragon vanished, leaving behind a very weakened Enderking.

When Riss was within range, he leaped upwards and pointed his sword downwards, ready to strike the Enderking. Time slowed down as Riss's sword dug straight into the Enderking's heart with great, brutal, and deadly force. The deafening, blood-curling scream that was then let out by the Enderking could be heard all the way across the End.


	34. Chapter 33: The Servant's Failure

**Chapter 33: The Servant's Failure**

When the Enderking's scream died out, Riss grabbed his sword and stepped a good distance away from him. When he looked again, he noticed a massive gash in the location of where his heart was. However, he could still hear the Enderking breathing, but his breathing didn't sound like he was fit to fight. He was breathing deeply and heavily, trying to hold on for as long as he can.

At the same time, Kaldar and Treka ran over to Amarisa and Riss. After they looked at the Enderking, they turned to talk to each other.

"The Endermen disappeared when the Enderking let out that screech," pointed out Kaldar, "It seems like you finished him."

"Yea, but it looks like he's still alive," said Riss, "But I'm not sure he's fit for fighting."

"What should we do with him?" asked Treka. As she said that, they could hear something from where the Enderking was. They looked over, and they noticed the Enderking getting back up with a great amount of effort, even taking a stumble a couple of times. However, when he was standing up, the group noticed that rather than having purple eyes like he and the rest of the Endermen had, he had empty eyes that were gleaming.

The Enderking grunted for a brief moment, but he then gave a slight grin of evil. After the grin, he began chuckling a very deep and dark chuckle. But as he was chuckling, he was suddenly cut off when he screamed while grabbing the area his heart was at, almost as if a sudden jolt of pain surged through him. After the pain subsided, he let go of the wound and began speaking.

"Riss..." started the Enderking. However, what was different was that this voice was far deeper than the one the Enderking used to speak with at the castle. "You are a great fool, Riss."

"How can I be a fool if I-" stated Riss before being nudged by Amarisa, "Er, we were able to defeat you?"

"Ah... you see, the reason you're a fool is beyond what you can see right now. Sure, you got your princess back, and I have to give you credit for that, but there is a reason that is greater than that."

"What is it?"

The Enderking gave a slight shout while grabbing his wound again due to a sharp jolt of pain. When the pain disappeared, he continued to speak. "That is because... I have a master."

Riss's face turned into one of slight shock when he heard the Enderking's words. A moment later, he managed to recollect himself and began to speak again. "Who... who is he?"

"In time, you will learn who he is. For now, I can tell you a few details about him." The Enderking took an especially deep breath before continuing. "If I were like a breeze, then my master would be like a hurricane. His power is incredible. In fact, he is powerful enough to be compared to Notch himself..."

"Is he?"

"Oh yes, he is. Want to know something else? Although I am about to vanish from this universe, my master will carry on with his plans. He will gradually weaken the strength of the universe through multiple acts of evil. Once the weakness has impacted the Developers themselves at Mount Mojang, he will strike them directly. Once every single Developer has been dealt with, he will then proceed to conquer the entire universe, just as he was almost guaranteed to do long ago."

After the Enderking talked, the entire group gave expressions of worry, but they managed to recognize this threat as an empty one.

"Half of the stuff you're saying is crazy," pointed out Riss, "I'm not sure your master could take over the universe..."

"If my master is that weak, then how am I still alive?" Riss tried to provide a rebuttal, but was humbled when the Enderking gave his counterargument. "Since I only have a few seconds of consciousness left, I will tell you these two words..." the Enderking grabbed his wound one last time before speaking again. "Watch out." After saying that, the Enderking gave a slight grin as he began to laugh maniacally and demonically as he began to dissolve into tiny pieces of darkness that floated about in the air.

When the Enderking completely dissolved, his entire body disappeared and his laugh was silenced. After that, the particles floating about suddenly were brought to a circular midpoint near the ground. The group stepped back, and after several moments, the particles formed a circular portal with some sort of egg on top.

"What's that egg about?" asked Kaldar.

"When the old king of the End dies, the new leader is to be hatched within the egg," replied Amarisa, "For now, let's leave it alone and get back to the Overworld." Just as Riss was about to agree, he heard the voice from his sword again.

"The Enderking is right. I detect an even greater threat in the universe," pointed out the voice from the sword while speaking into Riss's mind, "Normally, when the greatest threat has been dispatched, I would be ready to hibernate. However, since the threat still exists, I cannot rest yet."

"Oh..." replied Riss mentally to the sword.

"However, I do detect that the evil presence has quite a lot of progress to make before striking Mojang, so you and your friends can take a break from adventuring... for now. Go ahead and take the portal, you already answered the call to adventure. However, adventure will knock on your door again, and you need to be ready when it does."

"Thanks," said Riss mentally before speaking out loud,"Let's get back to the Overworld." The other three members of the group nodded as they stepped into the portal that opened before them. Kaldar was the first to go through the portal, causing his body to be teleported to the Overworld. Treka was second, and Amarisa was fourth. Finally, Riss stepped near the portal, and he could feel himself warping away from the End and into the Overworld.


	35. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

When the group of four returned to the Overworld, they found themselves near the well inside Harlock. The crowd dispersed, but that didn't last long. One man around thirty years old noticed them teleport into the Overworld, but what caught his eyes the most was Amarisa. He shouted "S... S... SHE'S BACK!", causing the crowd around him to take a look.

At first, they didn't know what he was referring to with the pronoun "She", but when they looked, they realized what he meant. A lot of people began to crowd around the well, and as the news quickly spread through town, a crowd similar to the one of the group before going into the portal formed, and people were hyped to see their long-lost princess return.

The noise was loud, but once again, Kaldar, Treka, and Riss could see Iramod plowing his way through the crowd. However, there were three other men plowing their way through as well! The one that came after Iramod was Telpur, Riss's father, a captain in the military, and one of Iramod's most trusted men. The one after him was the commander of the military and Kaldar's instructor. The last one plowing his way through was the leader of the Special Forces and Treka's instructor.

When the four adults got their way through the crowd, Telpur high-fived and fist-bumped Riss while Iramod gave Amarisa a very long hug, despite how dirty she was from fighting so hard. As the commander of the military and leader of the Special Forces managed to get to Kaldar and Treka respectively, they began to smile proudly as they looked at their successful apprentices.

"I can tell that you have done me proud, Kaldar," said the military commander, "And I see that you perceived victory, and that's how it became a reality."

"Yes sir," replied Kaldar, "We have won the battle and rescued the princess."

"I see. However, what if I told you that you no longer need any training and that you can become a fully fledged soldier?"

Kaldar was very surprised at what he just said. "Wait... no more training... full soldier... wha?"

"By helping Riss rescue the princess in a world no other soldier would have dared to step into, you have proven that you are worthy of becoming a soldier. Do you accept my offer?"

Kaldar thought for a few moments before coming to a decision. "I accept your offer, sir."

"Excellent!" exclaimed the commander, "And Treka, I believe that your instructor has something to say to you as well..."

"Indeed I do," replied the leader of the Special Forces. The leader was short and nimble with brown hair, but he appeared to be in his late thirties or his early forties.

"What is it, sir?" asked Treka.

"You have also gone to a place where no other man or woman would have dared to go into and slain a king more evil than anyone here could have imagined. For that, would you like to become a fully fledged Special Agent here in the Special Forces?"

"Y- yes sir!" replied Treka confidently.

"Awesome!" exclaimed the Special Forces leader. After Kaldar and Treka were promoted, Iramod stepped in front of the entire group while Telpur and the leaders stepped back.

"All of you have done well, and I cannot begin to thank you for all that you have done for Harlock," pointed out Iramod, "In fact, you haven't only done this for Harlock. You have done it for the entire world! Who knows what would have happened if he managed to get out into the Overworld... anyways, all of you are invited to the castle for dinner. If I knew about this ahead of time, I would have prepared something fancier, but I guess a good turkey dinner will do just fine."

"Thanks, but first, we must figure out a way through this crowd..." pointed out Riss.

"I got this," replied Iramod. He turned around and signaled for the crowd to form a passageway to safety. He then signaled for Riss, Kaldar, Treka, Amarisa, and Telpur to follow him through the passage lined with many people.

After about ten minutes of trying to ward off crowds, the Iramod, Telpur, the rest of the group, and Iramod's wife found themselves sitting down at the table of the castle dining hall in the evening. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, celebrating the fact that peace has been restored (for now).

"So, you had no idea of what was going on while they were crafting a pickaxe, Riss?" asked Iramod.

"Nope, no idea at all," replied Riss. Iramod chuckled while returning to his dinner. Riss looked at Treka and Kaldar, and they managed to chuckle as well.

"While you guys were having a good time in Harlock, I had to sit in boredom for several years," pointed out Amarisa. Riss gave a slight snicker. "What?"

"Sorry, but several years doesn't seem as bad as sleeping for ten years," replied Riss.

"Yea, but that probably seemed like only a few seconds since you were asleep," countered Amarisa.

"True, so you probably had the worse time," admitted Riss. Amarisa smiled in victory as she took a sip of her water.

"Anyways, Amarisa, things have changed around here over the few years you have been gone, so I bet Riss could give you a quick tour around the castle after dinner," stated Iramod.

"Yea, I still know my way around... well... most of the castle," added Riss.

"That would be nice," replied Amarisa. After that brief discussion, the people at the table returned to munching on their dinner and laughing as they told various stories and jokes.

About two hours after dinner, Riss was giving the tour of the castle to Amarisa. They managed to reach the uppermost floor of the castle, but they then noticed another flight of stairs going upwards.

"How can there be more stairs if we're on the top?" asked Amarisa.

"I don't know," replied Riss, "To tell you the truth, this is the first time I've been this high up in the castle. Might as well check it out!" They walked up the stairs and opened another door. When they opened it, they noticed that this door led out onto the roof of the castle.

Riss and Amarisa stepped outside and scurried together over to the edge of the roof. From there, they could see almost the entire kingdom of Harlock and the sun beautifully setting in the distance. They were both in awe, but Riss was thinking about why he didn't discover this area before. While looking out, Riss was suddenly reminded of something.

"Hey Amarisa, remember what you told Kaldar and Treka the day I fell asleep?" asked Riss.

"Yea," replied Amarisa.

"Well, they haven't told me what you said yet..."

Amarisa gazed off into the sunset before responding. "Well, let's just say that I might have been silly when I first said it..." She then turned her head around to make eye contact with Riss, "But now that we've been through a near-death situation together... well... let's just say that I might actually mean it now."

"Well, what did you say?" Riss began to blush and Amarisa began to smile a little while blushing as well.

"I can tell that you already know what I said then, so I guess I can tell you in a different way now." Both Amarisa's and Riss's cheeks turned red as Amarisa's lips met Riss's lips with a beautiful sunset in the background.

**Author's Notes:**

Congratulations, you have just read _The Destiny Scroll_! After 224 days of progress (With many eras of procrastination in between), the book is finally complete.

Just to clarify, **there is going to be a sequel**. You probably noticed me hint to this in the Author's Notes sections of earlier chapters, but there is going to be one. I'm not sure when I'll start writing it, but I won't start creating full chapters until the outline is complete.

If it takes too long, the I'm sorry, but I have schoolwork and other personal projects to deal with as well. However, if I'm not doing that, then I'm probably playing Team Fortress 2, and you can scold me for that.

Anyways, feel free to leave a review. I could always improve in one way or another!


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